


Reading percy jackson

by Kathy_rosas



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2019-09-23 15:56:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 72,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17083325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kathy_rosas/pseuds/Kathy_rosas
Summary: Characters read percy jackson. Yeah that about sums it up.





	1. Chapter 1

HELLO! okay you may haven known me as happyinlifeforever but wattpad decided to erase my whole account so yeah. I own nothing, rickbriordan is the owner of Pjo. I hope you enjoy this story.

“Father! I found some books that I think we along with a few of the demigods should read!” Apollo slams some books down on the table smiling brightly. “wait… you actually want to read!?” Athena stares at Apollo shocked. “I think it's important considering that it's on the life of a certain demigod known as Percy Jackson.” Apollo shows the God and goddess the titles.  
“where did you find them and how do we know they're real?” Poseidon asks flipping through one of the books. “I'm the God of truth and prophecies. I've flipped through the books and they have some of my visions word for word,” Apollo replies not answering as to where he found them. “I'm still shocked that my brother actually wants to read,” Artemis mutters. “And you think we should read these books?” Zeus asks raising an eyebrow. “yes, they contain important information and information that we might've missed,” Apollo replies. “For the first time in a long time, I agree with Apollo we should read these books,” Athena says flipping through the first book. “I still want to know where you found them.” Poseidon looks at Apollo a questioning looks on his face. “Tell you later right now we should gather some of the demigods,” Apollo replies smiling. “Why?” Zeus asks. “This is a book on their lives they should be present,” Hestia replies before Apollo can. “Fine,” Zeus says not wanting to fight with Hestia, “But which demigods should we gather?” “Percy jackson, Annabeth Chase, Grover Underwood, Thalia Grace, Nico Di Angelo, Jason grace-” “YOU WANT TO BRING IN THE ROMANS!” Hera yells. “we kept them apart for a reason,” Poseidon states. “And now we need to bring them together, this once I'm asking you to trust me,” Apollo states looking serious. “I've never seen you this serious,” Artemis tells Apollo who just flashes her a smile. “Father, Apollo is the God of prophecies, essentially he sees the future. We should trust him if he says we should bring the demigods in,” Athena states looking a bit shocked at taking Apollo's side. “Fine, continue Apollo.” “Jason grace, Piper McLean, Hazel Levesque, Leo Valdez, and Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano.” “Some of them don't know that they're demigods yet,” Aphrodite points out recognizing her daughter's name. “And my daughter, Hazel Levesque is dead,” Hades states bitterly. “not in the future she isn't. You can bring her spirit cant you? And the demigods that don't know that they're demigods should be briefed,” Apollo replies. “I'll go get Hazel,” Hades says sighing. “I'll get my daughter!” Aphrodite exclaims beaming. “I will go get my son Leo.” “I'll get Frank,” Ares says sneering, he didn't like the idea of reading these books. “I'll get Jason and Reyna,” Hera says glaring at her husband. “I'll go get my son and the rest of the greek demigods,” Poseidon says standing up. Those gods disappeared while the rest waited for them to get back.

Minutes later 

When the gods came back, they came back to chaos. Apollo and Hermes were in the process of planning pranks, Athena was arguing with Zeus about something. Dyanoisos, the gods were wondering at what time he got there, was reading a magazine and looking bored. Hestia was trying to calm Athena and Zeus. Everyone else was yelling. “CALM DOWN!!” Hades booms quieting everyone. The demigods who hadn't been to Olympus/knew they were demigods looked shocked. “All the demigods have been briefed and instructed not to fight with anyone,” Hera says. “Are we actually going to read books on the future?” Annabeth asks bowing along with the other demigods. “past, present and future,” Apollo replies. “and you can rise,” Hera stays glaring at Zeus. “you can sit down,” Hestia says smiling and conjuring up some chairs. “umm will anyone notice we're gone? I was in the middle of practicing with Beckendorf on blowing up a ship,” Percy asks. “Time has been paused outside of here,” Athena replies confusing everyone. “The fates sent this letter,” Athena holds up a letter, “apparently they agree with Apollo's plan. It says that time is paused.” Everyone nods in understatement and go to sit down, the Romans saying away from the greeks.. “oh by the way percy, the first few books are written in your point of view,” Apollo says beaming. “WHAT!?” Percy exclaims. “greeeeeaaaat,” he moans. “it'll be good,” Apollo says chuckling. “who's reading first?” Annabeth asks. “Percy is reading first,” Apollo says smiling and percy groans but takes the book. He is surprised when the writing changes to ancient greek. “I put a spell on the books to make it easier for each person to read,” Athena explains glaring at the sea spawn. Percy nods not wanting to anger her, and opens the book to the first chapter.


	2. How Do You Vaporize A Teacher!?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First chapter......  
> Thanks to all those who have read this book so far.

Percy flips to the first chapter of the book and begins reading.

 

**_ACCIDENTALLY VAPORIZE_ ** **_  
_ ** **_MY PRE-ALGEBRA TEACHER_ **

 

“how do you accidentally vaporize someone!?” Frank exclaims wide eyed and da tearing at the book in disbelief.

 

“I'm sure the book will explain it better than me,” Percy replies smiling.

**_  
_ ** **_Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood._ ** **_  
_ ** **_If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is_ **

 

“oh no percy is giving advice. Hide!” Thalia exclaims playfully, and ducks behind the couch.

 

**_: close this book right now._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Believe what-ever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life._ **

 

“that's….actually pretty good advice,” Thalia says acting shocked, coming out and sitting back down,  and Percy playfully glares at her.

**_  
_ ** **_Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways._ **

 

“check, check and check,” Percy says interrupting himself.

 

“it's not that bad is it?” Athena asks.

 

“There are kids that don't live to see their next birthday if they aren't at camp, and since some don't know where camp is they get killed,” Annabeth replies coldly her grey eyes swirling in anger.

 

“This is why we should be allowed to have contact with our kids!” Apollo yells at Zeus surprising everyone since usually he's so calm.

 

“No contact and that is final,” Zeus glares at Apollo.

 

“one day that is going to be our downfall,” Apollo mutters.

**_  
_ ** **_If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being_ ** **_  
_ ** **_able to believe that none of this ever happened._ **

 

“there are times when I also envy the kids that aren't demigods,” Thalia says frowning.

**_  
_ ** **_But if you recognize yourself in these pages-if you feel something stirring inside-stop reading_ ** **_  
_ ** **_immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they_ ** **_  
_ ** **_sense it too, and they'll come for you._ **

 

“who's they?” Leo asks fiddling with some paper.

 

“the monsters?” Jason suggests and percy nods.

 

“yeah that's probably who I was talking about.”

**_  
_ ** **_Don't say I didn't warn you._ ** **_  
_ ** **_My name is Percy Jackson._ **

 

“no, it’s Peter Johnson,” Dionysus says.

 

“I didnt even think he was paying attention,” Grover mutters.

**_  
_ ** **_I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private_ ** **_  
_ ** **_school for troubled kids in upstate New York. Am I a troubled kid?_ **

 

“yes you are,” Grover teases.

 

“I agree with Grover here,” Annabeth says joining in on the teasing.

 

“you both aren't my friends anymore,” Percy replies crossing his arms and pouting.

 

They last a few minutes before all three of them burst out laughing. Reyna does not seem very amused at their, in her opinion, immaturity.

**_  
_ ** **_Yeah. You could say that._ **

 

“You even admitted it kep head,” Thalia says chuckling.

**_  
_ ** **_I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it,_ **

 

“Short?” Poseidon asks paling.

 

“it was probably just a hyperbole,” Annabeth says.

 

“I sure hope so,” Poseidon mutters.

 

**_but things really started going bad last_ ** **_  
_ ** **_May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan- twenty-eight mental-case kids and two_ ** **_  
_ ** **_teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek_ ** **_  
_ ** **_and Roman stuff._ **

 

“sounds like torture/fun” Athena and Leo say at the same time. Athena glares at Leo.

 

“fun, yeah I meant fun,” Leo quickly says not wanting to anger the goddess.

**_  
_ ** **_I know-it sounds like torture._ **

 

Now Athena was glaring at Percy.

 

**_Most Yancy field trips were._ ** **_  
_ ** **_But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy_ ** **_  
_ ** **_beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee._ **

 

“is that Chiron?” Hermes asks and Percy nods.

 

**_You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but_ ** **_  
_ ** **_he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman_ ** **_  
_ ** **_armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep._ **

 

“You slept in class!” Athena and annabeth exclaim glaring at Percy.

 

“look at it from my point of view lady Athena. I have dyslexia, which makes it difficult for me to read words in English. Most teachers just put it off as me not trying and decided not to help me a lot. I tried but there comes a point in which you stop trying because the adults simply don't care. For a child of Athena working over the dyslexia would be easier, as they inherit a lot of knowledge and ability to be knowledgeable, from you lady Athena. For us other demigods with have to struggle with dyslexia.” Percy explains his situation, and that of countless other demigods, without losing eye contact with Athena.

 

“Is it really that hard for demigods to succeed in school?” Athena asks looking shocked.

 

“most teachers peg demigods as lazy or troublemakers and decide early on not to help,” Thalia responds.

 

“I will find a way to make this better and you can not stop me.” Athena looks determined and glares at Zeus when he goes to object.

 

“Thank you sea spawn, for bringing this to my attention.” Athena grudgingly says. Percy nods bowing a bit and then returning to reading.

**_  
_ ** **_I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Boy, was I wrong._ ** **_  
_ ** **_See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga_ ** **_  
_ ** **_battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but_ ** **_  
_ ** **_of course I got expelled anyway._ **

 

“what...were you...aiming...for?” Apollo and Hermes ask throughout their laughter.

 

“I actually can't remember,” Percy replies rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

  


**_And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-_ ** **_  
_ ** **_the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our_ ** **_  
_ ** **_class took an unplanned swim._ **

 

“Poseidon your son is gold,” Apollo says once he finally manages to calm down.

 

“can I kidnap him?” Hermes asks smiling mischievously.

 

Poseidon shakes his head amused.

 

**_And the time before that... Well, you get the idea._ **

 

“no don't stop!” Thalia exclaims laughing.

 

“I'll tell you some more stories later,” Percy promises.

**_  
_ ** **_This trip, I was determined to be good. All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting_ ** **_  
_ ** **_my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich._ **

 

“where can I find this girl,” Annabeth asks angry and takes out her dagger.

 

“calm down Annabeth it's in the past,” Grover says.

 

Annabeth frowns nodding but doesn't put away the dagger.

 

**_  
_ ** **_Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back_ ** **_  
_ ** **_several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his_ ** **_  
_ ** **_chin. On top of all that, he was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life_ ** **_  
_ ** **_because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs._ **

 

“gee Percy thanks for that wonderful description.”

 

“well how was I supposed to know that my thoughts were going to be read aloud!”

 

**_He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but_ ** **_  
_ ** **_don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria._ **

 

“You risked blowing your cover for enchiladas?” Jason asks bewildered. Grover just blushes and does not reply.

**_  
_ ** **_Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened_ ** **_  
_ ** **_me with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining_ ** **_  
_ ** **_happened on this trip._ **

 

“I hate bullies,” Piper says frowning.

 

“I'm pretty sure everyone does,” Hazel says timidly.

**_  
_ ** **_"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter."_ **

 

“You know who else like peanut butter?” Percy asks smiling.

 

“Tyson, he loves his peanut butter,” Thalia replies chuckling.

**_  
_ ** **_He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension would've_ ** **_  
_ ** **_been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into._ **

 

“How do you always manage to find yourself in messes?” Annabeth asks sighing.

 

“It's a gift,” Percy replied smirking.

**_  
_ ** **_Mr. Brunner led the museum tour. He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and_ ** **_  
_ ** **_glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery._ ** **_  
_ ** **_It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years._ ** **_  
_ ** **_He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started_ ** **_  
_ ** **_telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on_ ** **_  
_ ** **_the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody_ ** **_  
_ ** **_around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_would give me the evil eye._ **

 

“For paying attention!?” Needless to say that athena did not happy.

**_  
_ ** **_Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even_ ** **_  
_ ** **_though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had_ ** **_  
_ ** **_come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown._ **

 

“I wonder why he had a nervous breakdown?” Thalia looks at Percy as if he knew the answer.

 

“teaching delinquent students is bound to give some people breakdowns,” Percy says.

**_  
_ ** **_From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn._ **

 

“no that's Nico,” Thalia teases nico who had so far been quiet.

 

Nico chuckles shaking his head.

 

**_She would point her_ ** **_  
_ ** **_crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school_ ** **_  
_ ** **_detention for a month._ ** **_  
_ ** **_One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight,_ **

 

“that's horrible!” Hermes exclaims dramatically.

 

**_I told Grover I_ ** **_  
_ ** **_didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."_ **

 

“you need to stop blowing your cover,” Frank says and Grover simply blushes.

**_  
_ ** **_Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and_ ** **_  
_ ** **_said, "Will you shut up?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_It came out louder than I meant it to._ **

 

“Of course it did.” Annabeth sighs shaking her head.

 

**_The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_My face was totally red. I said, "No, sir."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture_ ** **_  
_ ** **_represents?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating_ ** **_  
_ ** **_his kids, right?"_ **

 

“It had to be that one.” Poseidon sighs shaking his head.

**_  
_ ** **_"Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because ..."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Well..." I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and-"_ **

 

“KING GOD!!” Zeus thunders glaring at Percy.

 

“I correct myself drama queen,” Percy replies and the Romans look shocked that he was speaking to a God like that.

 

Zeus looks angry but before he can do anything he notices Poseidon's glare and does nothing.

**_  
_ ** **_"God?" Mr. Brunner asked._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Titan," I corrected myself. "And ... he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-"_ **

 

Most of the demigods looked slightly ill.

**_  
_ ** **_"Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"-and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won."_ **

 

“you summed up a long war in a couple of sentences,” Reyna says shocked.

 

“that's percy for you,” Grover replies chuckling.

**_  
_ ** **_Some snickers from the group. Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to_ ** **_  
_ ** **_say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit excellent question, does this_ ** **_  
_ ** **_matter in real life?"_ **

 

“Busted” Apollo grinned

**_  
_ ** **_"Busted," Grover muttered._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair._ ** **_  
_ ** **_At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything_ ** **_  
_ ** **_wrong. He had radar ears._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know, sir."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a_ ** **_  
_ ** **_mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being_ ** **_  
_ ** **_immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods_ ** **_  
_ ** **_defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead_ ** **_  
_ ** **_us back outside?"_ **

 

“How is that a happy note?” Hazel asks looking slightly ill.

**_  
_ ** **_The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like_ ** **_  
_ ** **_doo-fuses._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I knew that was coming. I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go- intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand_ ** **_  
_ ** **_years old and had seen everything._ **

 

“You're very perceptive,” Hestia rells Percy who shrugs.

**_  
_ ** **_"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"About the Titans?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Oh."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept_ ** **_  
_ ** **_only the best from you, Percy Jackson."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard._ **

 

“Gor your own good percy,” Grover says.

 

“I know that now,” Percy replies.

**_  
_ ** **_I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and_ ** **_  
_ ** **_shouted: "What ho!'" and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped._ **

 

“Sounds like fun,” Leo says grinning.

 

**_But_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and_ ** **_  
_ ** **_attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C- in my life. No-he didn't expect me to be as_ ** **_  
_ ** **_good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell_ ** **_  
_ ** **_them correctly._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like_ ** **_  
_ ** **_he'd been at this girl's funeral._ **

 

“He probably had,” Hades says _._

 

**_He told me to go outside and eat my lunch._ ** **_  
_ ** **_The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Avenue._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured_ ** **_  
_ ** **_maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York state had been_ ** **_  
_ ** **_weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I_ ** **_  
_ ** **_wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in._ **

 

“What are you fighting about lord Jupiter and lord Neptune?” Frank asks. Zeus and Poseidon's form shifted briefly.

 

“I'm sure it will be explained in the book,” Apollo quickly replies not wanting a lot of spoilers to happen.

**_  
_ ** **_Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't_ ** **_  
_ ** **_seeing a thing._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did_ ** **_  
_ ** **_that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school-the school for loser freaks who couldn't make_ ** **_  
_ ** **_it elsewhere._ **

 

“Did it work?” Piper asks and Percy shakes his head.

**_  
_ ** **_"Detention?" Grover asked._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean-I'm not a genius."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep_ ** **_  
_ ** **_philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"_ **

 

That got some laughs and a blush from Grover.

 

**_  
_ ** **_I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it. I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a_ ** **_  
_ ** **_little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a_ ** **_  
_ ** **_taxi and head home._ **

 

“Mama's boy,” Ares teases percy looking angry and sneering.

 

“And proud of it,” Percy states firmly.

 

“Why can't you be like that?” Hera asks her children.

 

“you threw me from Olympus l,” Hephaestus replies glaring at Hera whom frowns.

 

**_She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me_ ** **_  
_ ** **_right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I_ ** **_  
_ ** **_was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a_ ** **_  
_ ** **_paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe_ ** **_  
_ ** **_table._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends-I_ ** **_  
_ ** **_guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists-and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-_ ** **_  
_ ** **_painted her face with liquid Cheetos._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your_ ** **_  
_ ** **_temper." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_screaming, "Percy pushed me!"_ **

 

“Great job percy,” Leo says chuckling.

**_  
_ ** **_Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see-"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"-the water-"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"-like it grabbed her-" I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again._ ** **_  
_ ** **_As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd_ ** **_  
_ ** **_done something she'd been waiting for all semester. "Now, honey-"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks."_ **

 

“You should never guess your punishment,” Hermes says shaking his head and looking at Percy as if he should know this already.

**_  
_ ** **_That wasn't the right thing to say._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to_ ** **_  
_ ** **_death._ ** **_  
_ ** **_She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"But-"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You-will-stay-here."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Grover looked at me desperately. "It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Nancy Bobofit smirked._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare._ **

 

“You do not want to be on the end of that stare,” Grover mutters.

 

**_Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She_ ** **_  
_ ** **_was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come_ ** **_  
_ ** **_on._ ** **_  
_ ** **_How'd she get there so fast?_ **

 

“Monster,” Reyna replies frowning.

**_  
_ ** **_I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've_ ** **_  
_ ** **_missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place_ ** **_  
_ ** **_behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things._ **

 

“Nope,” Thalia says popping the p.

**_  
_ ** **_I wasn't so sure._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I went after Mrs. Dodds._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in_ ** **_  
_ ** **_his novel._ **

 

“Really chiron?” Annabeth asks, as if Chiron were here, shaking her head.

 

**_I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_entrance hall._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop._ ** **_  
_ ** **_But apparently that wasn't the plan._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Roman section._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Except for us, the gallery was empty._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was_ ** **_  
_ ** **_making this weird noise in her throat, like growling._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it..._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil._ ** **_  
_ ** **_She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me._ **

 

“Unfortunately you're out of luck this time,” Thalia says.

 

**_I said, "I'll-I'll try harder, ma'am."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Thunder shook the building._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you_ ** **_  
_ ** **_out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I didn't know what she was talking about._ ** **_  
_ ** **_All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of_ ** **_  
_ ** **_my dorm room._ **

 

“I really love your kid poseidon,” Hermes says chuckling.

 

**_Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever_ ** **_  
_ ** **_reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make_ ** **_  
_ ** **_me read the book._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Well?" she demanded._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Ma'am, I don't..."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Your time is up," she hissed._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled_ ** **_  
_ ** **_hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons._ **

 

“You sent a fury after my son!” Poseidon glares at Hades gripping his trident.

 

“Dad it's fine, he didn't do it just to kill me he thought I had something of his,” Percy says. Poseidon frowns but nods and let's go of his trident.

**_  
_ ** **_Then things got even stranger. Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Mrs. Dodds lunged at me._ ** **_  
_ ** **_With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword-Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which_ ** **_  
_ ** **_he always used on tournament day._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes._ ** **_  
_ ** **_My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword._ ** **_  
_ ** **_She snarled, "Die, honey!"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_And she flew straight at me._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword._ **

 

“how is that natural!?” Piper exclaims and Percy just shrugs.

**_  
_ ** **_The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Hisss!_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two_ ** **_  
_ ** **_glowing red eyes were still watching me. I was alone._ **

 

“That is creepy,” Leo says still fiddling.

**_  
_ ** **_There was a ballpoint pen in my hand._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me._ ** **_  
_ ** **_My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or_ ** **_  
_ ** **_some-thing._ **

 

“Magic mushrooms?” Piler asks percy bewildered.

 

“He has a strange mind,” Annabeth says sighing and Percy playfully glares at her.

**_  
_ ** **_Had I imagined the whole thing?_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I went back outside._ ** **_  
_ ** **_It had started to rain._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still_ ** **_  
_ ** **_standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."_ **

 

“Who?” almost everyone asks.

**_  
_ ** **_I said, "Who?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Our teacher. Duh!"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about._ ** **_  
_ ** **_She just rolled her eyes and turned away. I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was._ ** **_  
_ ** **_He said, "Who?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me._ **

 

“You need lying lessons,” Hermes tells Grover.

**_  
_ ** **_"Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious."_ **

 

“No Sirius is Harry's godfather,” Apollo replies looking completely serious before he and Hermes burst out laughing.

**_  
_ ** **_Thunder boomed overhead._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I went over to him._ ** **_  
_ ** **_He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_future, Mr. Jackson."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_He stared at me blankly. "Who?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher." He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far_ ** **_  
_ ** **_as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling alright?"_ **

 

“now that's lying,” Hermes says once he calms down.

 

“That's the end of the chapter. Who's reading next?” Percy asks.

 

“I will,” Annabeth replies and Percy hands her the book.

 


	3. Percy's Going To Die!?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2.....  
> Thanks to everyone whom has read this book so far.

Annabeth flips to the next chapter and begins to read.

_**2 THREE OLD LADIES KNIT** _

_**THE SOCKS OF DEATH** _

Annabeth went pale. “Percy please don't tell me it's who I think it is!?”

“I guess we'll find out.”

Annabeth swallowed and continued reading while glancing worriedly at Percy.

_**I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty- four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle.** _

“I still think Chiron should have told you then. By not telling you he put you in more risk,” Annabeth says frowning.

“We thought if we let him believe that it wasn't real, then his scent wouldn't increase,” Grover responds shrugging sheepishly.

_**For the rest of the school year, the entire** _

_**campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr-a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip-had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas. Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho.** _

“That would have driven me nuts,” Thalia says shuddering.

“I honestly thought i was going insane,” Percy admits.

“All the best people are a bit insane,” Hermes says smiling.

“Isn't that from Alice in Wonderland?” Apollo asks chuckling.

“Yup.”

_**It got so I almost believed them-Mrs. Dodds had never existed.** _

_**Almost.** _

“Let me guess it was Grover?” Apollo asks shaking his head amused. Grover blushed and nodded.

_**But Grover couldn't fool me. When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim she didn't exist.** _

“You really need lying lessons,” Hermes tells Grover amused.

_**But I knew he was lying.** _

_**Something was going on. Something had happened at the museum.** _

_**I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.** _

“I'm pretty sure that every demigod can remember their first fight with a monster,” Reyna says frowning.

_**The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.** _

“I get that you get angry, but it's really petty that in your anger you would kill innocent humans! Or go to war when you know how many innocent lives could be lost. Aren't you supposed to guide and protect humans!?” Piper explains glaring at the Gods, not seeming to care that they could vaporize her.

Many gods went to yell but didn't when Hestia glared at them.

“The fights between us could end up being our downfall, we're family which means we should be able to trust each other,” Apollo says glaring at the gods, “We really need to grow up and start learning to give the benefit of doubt, and stop blaming demigods for our problems! You need to start showing a supportive front, and start aiding demigods or Olympus will fall!”

The gods were looking at Apollo in shock. They had never seen him angry and seen him lose his temper. Athena was wondering what Apollo could've possibly seen to make him act like this.

Hestia put a comforting hand on Apollo who relaxed and smiled at her. “Let's just get back to reading,” Apollo mutters.

The demigods stare in shock. Annabeth continues reading when her Mother nods to her.

_**I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs.** _

“Was part of that because of the dyslexia?” Athena asks and Percy nods. Athena nods and writes something down on a notebook.

_**I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.** _

_**Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped.** _

“Like Percy said, it's not that we're lazy to study for tests, it's that we have no one to help us understand what it is that we're reading,” Leo says frowning.

“That will change “ Athena states firmly.

_**I called him an old sot. I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.** _

Mostly everyone laughed, breaking a bit of the tension still in the room.

_**The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.** _

_**Fine, I told myself. Just fine.** _

_**I was homesick.** _

_**I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties.** _

“Paul plays poker?” Annabeth asks confused.

“No, my previous step dad did,” Percy replies frowning. Annabeth looks like she wants to say something but doesn't and continues reading.

_**And yet... there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, even if he was a little strange.** _

“All the best friends are strange,” Apollo says beaming.

_**I worried how he'd survive next year without me.** _

_**I'd miss Latin class, too-Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well. As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for.** _

“At least you studied,” Annabeth says shaking her head.

_**I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him.** _

“Good it could save your life,” Grover says.

_**The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology across my dorm room. Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards.** _

“That is the perfect description of dyslexia,” Piper says and Athena writes something else down.

_**There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydectes and Polydeuces. And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it.** _

“No way you can forget them now,” Annabeth says smiling.

“Nope,” Percy replied smirking.

_**I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.** _

_**I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.** _

_**I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book.** _

_**I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.** _

“So of a teacher or someone shows interest and genuinely wants to help, it makes you want to try even harder?” Athena asks and when Percy nods she adds another note to her notebook.

_**I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.** _

_**I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said "... worried about Percy, sir."** _

_**I froze.** _

_**I'm not usually an eavesdropper, but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.** _

“I don't think anyone could resist,” Jason says.

_**I inched closer.** _

_**"... alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for** _

_**sure, and they know too-"** _

_**"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more."** _

“Percy? mature!? Impossible!” Nico teases sending almost everyone into laughter. Percy pouts and then playfully glares at Nico.

Once everyone calms down, Annabeth continues reading.

_**"But he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline- "** _

_**"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."** _

_**"Sir, he saw her... ."** _

_**"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that." "Sir, I ... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."** _

“You never failed Grover,” Thalia states firmly. “You got Annabeth to safety and I could never thank you enough for that.”

Grover smiles and nods but still feels a bit guilty.

_**"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall-"** _

_**The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud.** _

_**Mr. Brunner went silent.** _

_**My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.** _

“Good, never leave evidence,” Hermes states.

_**A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.** _

_**I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.** _

_**A few seconds later I heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.** _

“Why was Chiron out of his wheelchair?” Annabeth asks.

“He gets cramps from sitting in it too long,” Grover replies.

_**A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.** _

_**Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."** _

_**"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn ..." "Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."** _

_**"Don't remind me."** _

_**The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.** _

_**I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.** _

_**Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.** _

_**Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.** _

“So you can act, but not lie?” Jason asks Grover who nods blushing.

_**"Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?"** _

_**I didn't answer.** _

_**"You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"** _

_**"Just... tired."** _

_**I turned so he couldn't read my expression, and started getting ready for bed.** _

“I wasn't expecting him to be able to read my emotions,” Pervy mutters.

_**I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.** _

_**But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger. The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam,** _

“Three hours!” every demigod exclaims. “That's torture!”

_**my eyes swimming with all the Greek** _

_**and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.** _

_**For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.** _

_**"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's ... it's for the best."** _

_**His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me.** _

“Looks like Chiron needs lessons on pep talks,” Apollo says writing it down.

_**Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips.** _

_**I mumbled, "Okay, sir."** _

_**"I mean ..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."** _

_**My eyes stung.** _

_**Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it.** _

“He needs those classes badly,” Hermes mutters.

_**After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.** _

_**"Right," I said, trembling.** _

_**"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say ... you're not normal, Percy.** _

“Normal is overrated,” Apollo states smiling brightly.

_**That's nothing to be-" "Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me.** _

_**"Percy-"** _

_**But I was already gone.** _

_**On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.** _

_**The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.** _

“Not anymore,” Percy says hugging Annabeth and smiling. Athena was glaring at Percy.

_**They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.** _

_**What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.** _

“Sally allowed you to work?” Annabeth asked shocked.

“She didn't like it, but there was no way I would let her handle the bills and costs alone,” Percy states firmly.

_**"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."** _

_**They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.** _

_**The only person I dreaded saying goodbye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, so there we were, together again,** _

“That's stalkerish,” Leo mutters.

_**heading into the city.** _

_**During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen.** _

“Very perceptive,” Hestia mutters.

_**Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased.** _

_**But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.** _

_**Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.** _

_**I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"** _

_**Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha-what do you mean?"** _

_**I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.** _

_**Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"** _

“Oh just about everything,” Grover mumbles.

_**"Oh ... not much. What's the summer solstice deadline?"** _

_**He winced. "Look, Percy ... I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers ..."** _

_**"Grover-"** _

_**"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and ..."** _

_**"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."** _

“You really need those lying lessons,” Hermes tells a blushing Grover.

_**His ears turned pink. From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer.** _

_**The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes,** _

“You will change that!” Hestia yells at Dionysus angrily. He quickly nods looking a bit afraid.

_**but I finally made out something** _

_**like:** _

_**Grover Underwood** _

_**Keeper** _

_**Half-Blood Hill** _

_**Long Island, New York** _

_**(800) 009-0009** _

_**"What's Half-"** _

_**"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um ... summer address."** _

_**My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy. "Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."** _

_**He nodded. "Or ... or if you need me."** _

_**"Why would I need you?"** _

_**It came out harsher than I meant it to.** _

“Well at least you didn't mean it to come out that harsh,” Thalia mutters.

_**Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I-I kind of have to protect you."** _

_**I stared at him.** _

_**All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended me.** _

“I can see why you wouldn't believe him,” Annabeth mutters.

_**"Grover," I said, "what exactly are you protecting me from?"** _

“Oh just your normal everyday monster,” Leo replies in a way that someone doing the laundry would reply.

_**There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.** _

_**After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.** _

_**We were on a stretch of country road-no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand. The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.** _

_**I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.** _

_**All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.** _

_**The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.** _

“The fates.” Annabeth pales.

“Hey, it's okay I'm still here.” Percy comforts Annabeth hugging her.

_**I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.** _

_**"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man-"** _

_**"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"** _

_**"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"** _

_**"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all."** _

_**The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors-gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath. "We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on."** _

_**"What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."** _

_**"Come on!'" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.** _

_**Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that snip across four lanes of traffic.** _

“Percy's going to die!” Thalia explains paling rapidly and Annabeth squeezed Percy's hand.

“No I'm not, it wasn’t my string,” Percy says. Thalia and Annabeth nod but they still look tense.

_**Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for-Sasquatch or Godzilla.** _

_**At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.** _

_**The passengers cheered.** _

_**"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"** _

_**Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.** _

_**Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.** _

_**"Grover?"** _

_**"Yeah?"** _

_**"What are you not telling me?" He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"** _

_**"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like ... Mrs. Dodds, are they?"** _

_**His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds.** _

“When and how did he get so perceptive,” Athena mutters.

_**He said, "Just tell me what you saw."** _

_**"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."** _

_**He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't.** _

_**It was something else, something almost-older.** _

“You're very perceptive,” Reyna states and Percy simply shrugs.

_**He said, "You saw her snip the cord."** _

_**"Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.** _

_**"This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time."** _

_**"What last time?"** _

_**"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."** _

“Like I said I don't blame you,” Thalia once again states firmly.

_**"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?"** _

_**"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me." This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he would.** _

_**"Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.** _

_**No answer.** _

_**"Grover-that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"** _

“Yes,” Annabeth replies still looking pale.

_**He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.** _

“If possible I would like blue ones,” Percy says jokingly, trying to defuse some of the tension and it works.

“Hmm I'll see what I can do,” Grove replies jokingly.

“That's the end of the chapter,” Annabeth says shaking her head amused.


	4. Don't Forget Your Pants Grover!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello again everyone! How are you all? Remember I don't own Pjo Or HOO, Rick Riordan does. Enjoy the chapter.

“Who wants to read next?” Annabeth asks.

 

“I guess I'll read,” Grover says shrugging. 

 

Annabeth hands him the book and Grover flips to the next chapter. “Of course I got this one,” Grover mutters and begins reading.

 

**_3 GROVER UNEXPECTEDLY_ ** **_  
_ ** **_LOSES HIS PANTS_ **

 

“Now Grover, you should always remember your pants,” Piper tells Grover teasingly.

**_  
_ ** **_Confession time: I ditched Grover as soon as we got to the bus terminal._ **

 

“Percy that was rude!” Annabeth exclaims hitting Percy's arm.

 

“You nearly gave me a heart attack I thought you had been taken or killed by monsters,” Grover tells Percy.

 

“Sorry Grover,” Percy apologizes blushing a bit.

**_  
_ ** **_I know, I know. It was rude. But Grover was freaking me out, looking at me like I was a dead man,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_muttering "Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to he sixth grade?"_ **

 

“I'm pretty sure that, that would scare anyone,” Leo mutters.

 

**_Whenever he got upset, Grover's bladder acted up, so I wasn't surprised when, as soon as we got off the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_bus, he made me promise to wait for him, then made a beeline for the restroom. Instead of waiting, I_ ** **_  
_ ** **_got my suitcase, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"East One-hundred-and-fourth and First," I told the driver._ **

 

“Good thing the Stoll brothers aren't here or they would have memorized the address and gone to place pranks on your house,” Annabeth says shaking her head, looking a bit amused.

 

“If they did that then they would have started a prank war,” Percy replied smirking.

 

**_  
_ ** **_A word about my mother, before you meet her._ **

 

“Amazing.”

 

“Intelligent.”

 

“Patient.”

 

“Lovely.”

 

The demigods who hadn't met Sally, now really wanted to meet the woman that was spoken of so highly. Some were also a bit jealous that Percy had a mother like that.

**_  
_ ** **_Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world, which just proves my theory that the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_best people have the rottenest luck._ **

 

“That includes you Percy,” Thalia says.

 

“I don't have the rottenest luck. After all, I met all of you and so many other great friends. I found out that my dad is an amazing guy and I found a brother,” Percy replies smiling, “In my opinion, I have some of the best luck a demigod can have.”

 

Annabeth  Grover and Thalia nod agreeing. “You're right Percy, I'm so use to seeing the bad that I forget to see the good,” Thalia said smiling. 

 

“It's the good that keeps us going,” Annabeth says smiling.

  
  


**_Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five, and she_ ** **_  
_ ** **_was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her. She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high_ ** **_  
_ ** **_school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program. Then her_ ** **_  
_ ** **_uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was_ ** **_  
_ ** **_left with no money, no family, and no diploma._ **

 

“Your mother, is she willing to work hard for her diploma?” Athena asks Percy who looks surprised but nods. 

 

“Then I will make sure that she gets her diploma.” 

 

**_  
_ ** **_The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I don't have any memories of him, just this sort of warm glow, maybe the barest trace of his smile._ **

 

“You visited him!” Zeus yelled.

 

“Of course I did! He's my son! I should be able to see him at least once!”

 

“You broke a rule Poseidon! We aren't allowed to see our children!”

 

“You might not care enough to visit your children but I do and I'm not the only one who has visited their children!”

 

“He's right father, I've visited my children at least once,” Athena admits and Annabeth gasps shocked.

 

“We will talk about this later,” Zeus fumed.

 

**_My_ ** **_  
_ ** **_mom doesn't like to talk about him because it makes her sad. She has no pictures._ ** **_  
_ ** **_See, they weren't married. She told me he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Lost at sea, my mom told me. Not dead. Lost at sea._ **

 

“A half lie, smart woman,” Hermes tells Poseidon who nods agreeing.

**_  
_ ** **_She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me on her own. She_ ** **_  
_ ** **_never complained or got mad. Not even once._ **

 

“That woman has the patience of a saint,” Athena mutters.

  
  


**_But I knew I wasn't an easy kid. Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano, who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him, then showed his_ ** **_  
_ ** **_true colors as a world-class jerk. When I was young, I nicknamed him Smelly Gabe. I'm sorry, but it's the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_truth. The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way_ ** **_  
_ ** **_he and I got along ... well, when I came home is a good example._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was_ ** **_  
_ ** **_in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were_ ** **_  
_ ** **_strewn all over the carpet._ **

 

Artemis sneered and muttered the word pig.

**_  
_ ** **_Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, "So, you're home."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Where's my mom?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Working," he said. "You got any cash?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_That was it. No Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had about three hairs_ ** **_  
_ ** **_on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something._ ** **_  
_ ** **_He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. I don't know_ ** **_  
_ ** **_why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money on_ ** **_  
_ ** **_cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course. Always beer. Whenever I was home, he expected_ ** **_  
_ ** **_me to provide his gambling funds. He called that our "guy secret." Meaning, if I told my mom, he would_ ** **_  
_ ** **_punch my lights out._ **

 

“Percy please tell me that he never laid a hand on you,” Poseidon prayed that Gabe had never laid a finger on Percy.

 

“He did,” Percy admits, he had never told anyone, not even Grover. “But when I got to the age of about 11 I started being able to dodge and get away. Doesn't mean that he wasn't able to get me sometimes.” 

 

“If he wasn't dead already, I would've killed him,” Poseidon growls.

 

“This once I'll allow you to torture a spirit,” Hades tells his brother. Poseidon thanks him looking very angry.

 

“Percy why didn't you ever tell anyone?” Grover asks.

 

“He threatened to hurt mom, turns out he hurt her either way,” Percy replies frowning and clenching his fists. 

 

Thalia lays a hand on Percy's shoulder. “If you ever need to talk, I'm here.”

 

Annabeth hugs percy and whispers in his ear that she's here for him if he ever needs her. Aphrodite is mentally squealing in her head. Artemis was looking at Percy in curiosity, silently thinking  _ he's seems different than most men.  _

 

“I'm okay,” Percy replies smiling. “He's long gone, and me and my mom are both happy.”

 

Annabeth gives him a brief hug before reading again. 

 

**_"I don't have any cash," I told him._ ** **_  
_ ** **_He raised a greasy eyebrow._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should've_ ** **_  
_ ** **_covered up everything else._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in_ ** **_  
_ ** **_change._ **

 

“That pig can actually do math!?” Athena asks shocked.

  
  


**_Somebody expects to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy. "Come on, Gabe,"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_he said. "The kid just got here."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Am I right?" Gabe repeated._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two guys passed gas in harmony._ **

 

Many people made a face of disgust.

**_  
_ ** **_"Fine," I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you_ ** **_  
_ ** **_lose."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Your report card came, brain boy!" he shouted after me. "I wouldn't act so snooty!"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I slammed the door to my room, which really wasn't my room. During school months, it was Gabe's_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"study." He didn't study anything in there except old car magazines, but he loved shoving my stuff in the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his_ ** **_  
_ ** **_nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home._ **

 

“You my friend, are the king of sarcasm,” Leo tells Percy.

 

“Bow down before me peasant,” Percy demands jokingly and Leo jokingly bows. This sends almost everyone into laughter.

 

Once everyone calms down, Annabeth continues reading.

**_  
_ ** **_Gabe's smell was almost worse than the nightmares about Mrs. Dodds, or the sound of that old fruit_ ** **_  
_ ** **_lady's shears snipping the yarn._ ** **_  
_ ** **_But as soon as I thought that, my legs felt weak. I remembered Grover's look of panic-how he'd made_ ** **_  
_ ** **_me promise I wouldn't go home without him. A sudden chill rolled through me. I felt like someone-_ ** **_  
_ ** **_something-was looking for me right now, maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing long, horrible_ ** **_  
_ ** **_talons._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Then I heard my mom's voice. "Percy?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_She opened the bedroom door, and my fears melted._ ** **_  
_ ** **_My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room._ **

 

“Mommas boy,” Ares sneers.

 

“And proud of it,” Percy states firmly.

  
  


**_Her eyes sparkle and change color in_ ** **_  
_ ** **_the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She's got a few gray streaks mixed in with her long brown hair,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_but I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all the good things about me,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_none of the bad._ **

 

“She sounds like an amazing person,” Leo says smiling a bit sadly. He misses his mom.  _ It’s my fault _ he thinks angrily. As if Apollo could tell what he was thinking, he looks over at Leo and shakes his head confusing Leo. 

  
  


**_I've never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Gabe._ **

 

“She definitely has the patience of a saint,” Athena mutters 

 

**_  
_ ** **_"Oh, Percy." She hugged me tight. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd brought me a huge bag_ ** **_  
_ ** **_of "free samples," the way she always did when I came home._ **

 

“I want some,” Leo exclaims.

 

“If we end up being friends, which I'm sure we will be I will definitely bring you to my house and give you a whole bunch of candy,” Percy replies.

 

**_  
_ ** **_We sat together on the edge of the bed. While I attacked the blueberry sour strings, she ran her hand_ ** **_  
_ ** **_through my hair and demanded to know everything I hadn't put in my letters. She didn't mention_ ** **_  
_ ** **_anything about my getting expelled. She didn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little_ ** **_  
_ ** **_boy doing all right? I told her she was smothering me, and to lay off and all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see_ ** **_  
_ ** **_her._ **

 

“You really love your mother don't you boy?” Artemis asks.

 

“I would do anything to see her happy.”

 

**_  
_ ** **_From the other room, Gabe yelled, "Hey, Sally-how about some bean dip, huh?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I gritted my teeth._ ** **_  
_ ** **_My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should've been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk_ ** **_  
_ ** **_like Gabe._ **

 

“She has Paul now,” Percy says smiling.

**_  
_ ** **_For her sake, I tried to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I told her I wasn't too down_ ** **_  
_ ** **_about the expulsion. I'd lasted almost the whole year this time. I'd made some new friends. I'd done_ ** **_  
_ ** **_pretty well in Latin. And honestly, the fights hadn't been as bad as the headmaster said. I liked Yancy_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convinced myself. I started choking_ ** **_  
_ ** **_up, thinking about Grover and Mr. Brunner. Even Nancy Bobofit suddenly didn't seem so bad._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Until that trip to the museum ..._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"What?" my mom asked. Her eyes tugged at my conscience, trying to pull out the secrets. "Did_ ** **_  
_ ** **_something scare you?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"No, Mom."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I felt bad lying. I wanted to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I_ ** **_  
_ ** **_thought it would sound stupid._ **

 

“Is she clear-sighted?” Hermes asks.

 

I think that answer should be clear by now,” Athena replies.

**_  
_ ** **_She pursed her lips. She knew I was holding back, but she didn't push me._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I have a surprise for you," she said. "We're going to the beach." My eyes widened. "Montauk?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Three nights-same cabin."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"When?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_She smiled. "As soon as I get changed."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I couldn't believe it. My mom and I hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said_ ** **_  
_ ** **_there wasn't enough money._ **

 

“Stupid pig,” Artemis spats.

**_  
_ ** **_Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I wanted to punch him, but I met my mom's eyes and I understood she was offering me a deal: be nice_ ** **_  
_ ** **_to Gabe for a little while. Just until she was ready to leave for Montauk. Then we would get out of here._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I was on my way, honey," she told Gabe. "We were just talking about the trip."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I knew it," I muttered. "He won't let us go."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Of course he will," my mom said evenly. "Your stepfather is just worried about money. That's all._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Besides," she added, "Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for_ ** **_  
_ ** **_the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works."_ **

 

“That is one amazing woman,” Hermes mutters.

 

**_Gabe softened a bit. "So this money for your trip ... it comes out of your clothes budget, right?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Yes, honey," my mother said._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"We'll be very careful."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Gabe scratched his double chin. "Maybe if you hurry with that seven-layer dip ... And maybe if the kid_ ** **_  
_ ** **_apologize for interrupting my poker game."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot, I thought. And make you sing soprano for a week._ **

 

“Please do,” Thalia sneers. 

 

“i didn't unfortunately.”

**_  
_ ** **_But my mom's eyes warned me not to make him mad._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Why did she put up with this guy? I wanted to scream. Why did she care what he thought?_ **

 

“If it's for the reason I'm thinking, than she's a smart woman, but she should've also thought of the kind of man he was,” Athena replies to the question.

**_  
_ ** **_"I'm sorry," I muttered. "I'm really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go_ ** **_  
_ ** **_back to it right now."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Gabe's eyes narrowed. His tiny brain was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Yeah, whatever," he decided._ ** **_  
_ ** **_He went back to his game. "Thank you, Percy," my mom said. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about... whatever you've_ ** **_  
_ ** **_forgotten to tell me, okay?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_For a moment, I thought I saw anxiety in her eyes-the same fear I'd seen in Grover during the bus ride-as_ ** **_  
_ ** **_if my mom too felt an odd chill in the air._ ** **_  
_ ** **_But then her smile returned, and I figured I must have been mistaken. She ruffled my hair and went to_ ** **_  
_ ** **_make Gave his seven-layer dip._ ** **_  
_ ** **_An hour later we were ready to leave._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Gabe took a break from his poker game long enough to watch me lug my mom's bags to the car. He kept_ ** **_  
_ ** **_griping and groaning about losing her cooking-and more important, his '78 Camaro-for the whole_ ** **_  
_ ** **_weekend._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Not a scratch on this car, brain boy," he warned me as I loaded the last bag. "Not one little scratch."_ **

 

“Like he'd be the one driving,” Jason mutters.

**_  
_ ** **_Like I'd be the one driving. I was twelve. But that didn't matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as pooped_ ** **_  
_ ** **_on his paint job, he'd find a way to blame me._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Watching him lumbar back toward the apartment building, I got so mad I did something I can't explain._ ** **_  
_ ** **_As Gabe reached the doorway, I made the hand gesture I'd seen Grover make on the bus, a sort of_ ** **_  
_ ** **_warding-off-evil gesture, a clawed hand over my heart, then a shoving movement toward Gabe. The_ ** **_  
_ ** **_screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the staircase as if_ ** **_  
_ ** **_he'd been shot from a cannon._ **

 

“How is that possible?!” Zeus demands.

 

“He shouldn't be able to do that,” Poseidon replies looking a confused Percy.

 

“We'll talk about this later,” Apollo states.

 

“What aren't you telling us Apollo?” Athena asks but receives no reply, Apollo simply motions for Annabeth to keep reading.

  
  


**_Maybe it was just the wind, or some freak accident with the hinges, but I_ ** **_  
_ ** **_didn't stay long enough to find out._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I got in the Camaro and told my mom to step on it. Our rental cabin was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. It was a little pastel box with_ ** **_  
_ ** **_faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders in the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_cabinets, and most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I loved the place._ **

 

“Of course you did,” Thalia says chucking. 

**_  
_ ** **_We'd been going there since I was a baby. My mom had been going even longer. She never exactly said,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_but I knew why the beach was special to her. It was the place where she'd met my dad._ **

 

“That so sweet!” Aphrodite yells.

 

**_  
_ ** **_As we got closer to Montauk, she seemed to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from_ ** **_  
_ ** **_her face. Her eyes turned the color of the sea._ ** **_  
_ ** **_We got there at sunset, opened all the cabin's windows, and went through our usual cleaning routine._ ** **_  
_ ** **_We walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue_ ** **_  
_ ** **_saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I guess I should explain the blue food._ **

 

“Please do,” Leo says.

**_  
_ ** **_See, Gabe had once told my mom there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a_ ** **_  
_ ** **_really small thing at the time. But ever since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue. She baked blue_ ** **_  
_ ** **_birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She bought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home_ ** **_  
_ ** **_blue candy from the shop. This-along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling_ ** **_  
_ ** **_herself Mrs. Ugliano-was proof that she wasn't totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious_ ** **_  
_ ** **_streak, like me._ **

 

“It's more than just a streak for you Percy,” Grover says.

**_  
_ ** **_When it got dark, we made a fire. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom told me stories about_ ** **_  
_ ** **_when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. She told me about the books she_ ** **_  
_ ** **_wanted to write someday, when she had enough money to quit the candy shop. Eventually, I got up the nerve to ask about what was always on my mind whenever we came to_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Montauk-my father. Mom's eyes went all misty. I figured she would tell me the same things she always_ ** **_  
_ ** **_did, but I never got tired of hearing them._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"He was kind, Percy," she said. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his black hair,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_you know, and his green eyes."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Mom fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so_ ** **_  
_ ** **_proud."_ **

 

“I am really proud,” Poseidon says. Percy gets up and hugs him. “I'm extremely proud of you son.” Percy smiles and walks back to his seat.

 

**_  
_ ** **_I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+_ ** **_  
_ ** **_report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"How old was I?" I asked. "I mean ... when he left?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_She watched the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This_ ** **_  
_ ** **_cabin."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"But... he knew me as a baby."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were_ ** **_  
_ ** **_born."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I tried to square that with the fact that I seemed to remember ... something about my father. A warm_ ** **_  
_ ** **_glow. A smile._ **

 

“I did visit you,” Poseidon says smiling.

**_  
_ ** **_I had always assumed he knew me as a baby. My mom had never said it outright, but still, I'd felt it must_ ** **_  
_ ** **_be true. Now, to be told that he'd never even seen me … I felt angry at my father. Maybe it was stupid, but I resented him for going on that ocean voyage, for not_ ** **_  
_ ** **_having the guts to marry my mom. He'd left us, and now we were stuck with Smelly Gabe._ **

 

“I don't blame you I blame Zeus,” Percy says before Poseidon can apologize. Zeus glares at Percy but does nothing, not wanting to start a war with Poseidon again.

**_  
_ ** **_"Are you going to send me away again?" I asked her. "To another boarding school?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_She pulled a marshmallow from the fire._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I don't know, honey." Her voice was heavy. "I think ... I think we'll have to do something."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Because you don't want me around?" I regretted the words as soon as they were out._ ** **_  
_ ** **_My mom's eyes welled with tears. She took my hand, squeezed it tight. "Oh, Percy, no. I-I have to,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_honey. For your own good. I have to send you away."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Her words reminded me of what Mr. Brunner had said-that it was best for me to leave Yancy._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Because I'm not normal," I said._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are. I thought Yancy_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Safe from what?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_She met my eyes, and a flood of memories came back to me-all the weird, scary things that had ever_ ** **_  
_ ** **_happened to me, some of which I'd tried to forget. During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked me on the playground. When the teachers_ ** **_  
_ ** **_threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed me when I told them that_ ** **_  
_ ** **_under his broad-brimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Before that-a really early memory. I was in preschool, and a teacher accidentally put me down for a nap_ ** **_  
_ ** **_in a cot that a snake had slithered into. My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me_ ** **_  
_ ** **_playing with a limp, scaly rope I'd somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands._ **

 

“Like Hercules,” Piper says.

 

“I'm nothing like Hercules,” Percy replies frowning.

 

**_  
_ ** **_In every single school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I knew I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword. But I couldn't_ ** **_  
_ ** **_make myself tell her. I had a strange feeling the news would end our trip to Montauk, and I didn't want_ ** **_  
_ ** **_that._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," my mom said. "They told me that was a mistake. But_ ** **_  
_ ** **_there's only one other option, Percy-the place your father wanted to send you. And I just... I just can't_ ** **_  
_ ** **_stand to do it."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"My father wanted me to go to a special school?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Not a school," she said softly. "A summer camp."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_My head was spinning. Why would my dad-who hadn't even stayed around long enough to see me born-_ ** **_  
_ ** **_talk to my mom about a summer camp? And if it was so important, why hadn't she ever mentioned it_ ** **_  
_ ** **_before?_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I'm sorry, Percy," she said, seeing the look in my eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I-I couldn't send you to_ ** **_  
_ ** **_that place. It might mean saying goodbye to you for good." "For good? But if it's only a summer camp ..."_ **

 

“She was afraid to lose you, like any mother,” Hera says smiling.

**_  
_ ** **_She turned toward the fire, and I knew from her expression that if I asked her any more questions she_ ** **_  
_ ** **_would start to cry._ ** **_  
_ ** **_That night I had a vivid dream._ **

 

“Your dreams are the worst,” Thalia mutters. 

**_  
_ ** **_It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, were trying_ ** **_  
_ ** **_to kill each other at the edge of the surf. The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with_ ** **_  
_ ** **_its huge talons. The horse reared up and kicked at the eagles wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I ran toward them, knowing I had to stop them from killing each other, but I was running in slow motion._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I knew I would be too late. I saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, and I_ ** **_  
_ ** **_screamed, No!_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I woke with a start._ **

 

“Ha! I would've won,” Zeus says and Poseidon just rolls his eyes.

**_  
_ ** **_Outside, it really was storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was_ ** **_  
_ ** **_no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding_ ** **_  
_ ** **_the dunes like artillery._ ** **_  
_ ** **_With the next thunderclap, my mom woke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, "Hurricane."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I knew that was crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seemed_ ** **_  
_ ** **_to have for-gotten. Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that_ ** **_  
_ ** **_made my hair stand on end._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice-someone yelling, pounding on our_ ** **_  
_ ** **_cabin door. My mother sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn't... he wasn't_ ** **_  
_ ** **_exactly Grover._ **

 

“What do you mean?” Piper asks confused.

**_  
_ ** **_"Searching all night," he gasped. "What were you thinking?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_My mother looked at me in terror-not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Percy," she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell_ ** **_  
_ ** **_me?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I was frozen, looking at Grover. I couldn't understand what I was seeing._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"O Zeu kai alloi theoi!" he yelled. "It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I was too shocked to register that he'd just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I'd understood him perfectly. I_ ** **_  
_ ** **_was too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. Because_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Grover didn't have his pants on-and where his legs should be ... where his legs should be ..._ ** **_  
_ ** **_My mom looked at me sternly and talked in a tone she'd never used before: "Percy. Tell me now!"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I stammered something about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds, and my mom stared at_ ** **_  
_ ** **_me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning._ ** **_  
_ ** **_She grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said, "Get to the car. Both of you. Go!" Grover ran for the Camaro-but he wasn't running, exactly. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy_ ** **_  
_ ** **_hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me. I_ ** **_  
_ ** **_understood how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Because where his feet should be, there were no feet. There were cloven hooves._ **

 

Piper looked at Grover and sure enough he was half goat. “Well that's something you don't see every day,” she mutters.

 

“That's the end of the chapter,” Grover says. 

  
  
  



	5. Run Away From the Bullman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello. Remember Rick Riordan owns pjo and HOO

“Who wants to read next?” Grover asks.

 

“I can read next,” Piper says and Grover hands her the book.

 

**_MY MOTHER TEACHES ME BULLFIGHTING_ **

 

“What?” Jason asks confused and receives no answer.

**_  
_ ** **_We tore through the night along dark country roads. Wind slammed against the Camaro. Rain lashed the wind-shield. I didn't know how my mom could see anything, but she kept her foot on the gas._ **

 

“That's dangerous, but I guess you're running away from a monster so I guess that kind of driving right now is understandable,” Nico says.

 

**_  
_ ** **_Every time there was a flash of lightning, I looked at Grover sitting next to me in the backseat and I wondered if I'd gone insane, or if he was wearing some kind of shag-carpet pants._ **

 

“Really?” Grover asks Percy frowning.

 

“Hey I can't control what my mind comes up with,” Percy says.

  
  


**_But, no, the smell was one I remembered from kindergarten field trips to the petting zoo- lanolin, like from wool. The smell of a wet barnyard animal._ **

 

“I feel offended.” Grover glares at Percy crossing his arms.

 

Percy in response just sticks out his tongue at him.

 

**_  
_ ** **_All I could think to say was, "So, you and my mom... know each other?"_ **

 

“That sounds wrong and stalkerish,” Nico mutters.

 

****_  
_ **_Graver's eyes flitted to the rearview mirror, though there were no cars behind us. "Not exactly," he said._ ** ****_  
_ **_"I mean, we've never met in person. But she knew I was watching you."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"Watching me?"_

 

“It’s official, Grover's a stalker,” Leo mutters.

 

****_  
_ **_"Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn't faking being your friend," he added hastily. "I am your friend."_ ** ****_  
_ **_"Urn ... what are you, exactly?"_ ** ****_  
_ **_"That doesn't matter right now."_ ** ****_  
_ **_"It doesn't matter? From the waist down, my best friend is a donkey-"_ ** ****_  
_ **_Grover let out a sharp, throaty "Blaa-ha-ha!"_ ** ****_  
_ **_I'd heard him make that sound before, but I'd always assumed it was a nervous laugh. Now I realized it was more of an irritated bleat._ ** ****_  
_ **_"Goat!" he cried._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"What?" "I'm a goat from the waist down."_

 

“But you said it didn't matter,” Hazel points out.

 

****_  
_ **_"You just said it didn't matter."_ ** ****_  
_ **_"Blaa-ha-ha! There are satyrs who would trample you underhoof for such an insult!"_ ** ****_  
_ **_"Whoa. Wait. Satyrs. You mean like ... Mr. Brunner's myths?"_ ** ****_  
_ **_"Were those old ladies at the fruit stand a myth, Percy? Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?"_ ** ****_  
_ **_"So you admit there was a Mrs. Dodds!"_ ** ****_  
_ **_"Of course."_ ** ****_  
_ **_"Then why-"_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract," Grover said, like that should be perfectly obvious._

 

“I still think that as soon as someone is identified as a demigod, they should be told because by not telling them and helping to train them you're putting them in danger,” Percy says frowning. 

 

“I'm intrigued sea spawn, we shall talk about this later,” Athena tells Percy who nods.

 

**_"We put Mist over the humans' eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are."_ **

 

“Subconsciously,” Annabeth clears up as if the Percy in the book could hear her.

 

****_  
_ **_"Who I-wait a minute, what do you mean?"_ ** ****_  
_ **_The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us, closer than before. Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail. "Percy," my mom said, "there's too much to explain and not enough time. We have to get you to safety."_ ** ****_  
_ **_"Safety from what? Who's after me?"_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"Oh, nobody much," Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. "Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions."_

 

“Sorry about that nephew,” Hades says shocking Percy. Percy simply nods, too shocked to say anything.

****_  
_ **_"Grover!"_ ** ****_  
_ **_"Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?"_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening, but I couldn't do it. I knew this wasn't a dream. I had no imagination. I could never dream up something this weird._

 

“Are you sure?” Annabeth asks Percy teasingly. 

 

“Hmph.” Percy pouts and crosses his arms.

 

****_  
_ **_My mom made a hard left. We swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farmhouses and wooded hills and PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES signs on white picket fences._ ** ****_  
_ **_"Where are we going?" I asked._ ** ****_  
_ **_"The summer camp I told you about." My mother's voice was tight; she was trying for my sake not to be scared. "The place your father wanted to send you."_ ** ****_  
_ **_"The place you didn't want me to go."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"Please, dear," my mother begged. "This is hard enough. Try to understand. You're in danger."_

**_"Because some old ladies cut yarn."_ ** ****_  
_ **_"Those weren't old ladies," Grover said. "Those were the Fates. Do you know what it means-the fact they appeared in front of you? They only do that when you're about to ... when someone's about to die."_ ** ****_  
_ **_"Whoa. You said 'you.'"_ ** ****_  
_ **_"No I didn't. I said 'someone.'"_ ** ****_  
_ **_"You meant 'you.' As in me."_ ** ****_  
_ **_"I meant you, like 'someone.' Not you, you."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"Boys!" my mom said._

 

“Thank you Sally,” Annabeth mutters.

****_  
_ **_She pulled the wheel hard to the right, and I got a glimpse of a figure she'd swerved to avoid-a dark fluttering shape now lost behind us in the storm._ ** ****_  
_ **_"What was that?" I asked._ ** ****_  
_ **_"We're almost there," my mother said, ignoring my question. "Another mile. Please. Please. Please."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_I didn't know where there was, but I found myself leaning forward in the car, anticipating, wanting us to arrive. Outside, nothing but rain and darkness-the kind of empty countryside you get way out on the tip of Long Island. I thought about Mrs. Dodds and the moment when she'd changed into the thing with pointed teeth and leathery wings. My limbs went numb from delayed shock. She really hadn't been human. She'd meant to kill me. Then I thought about Mr. Brunner ... and the sword he had thrown me. Before I could ask Grover about that, the hair rose on the back of my neck. There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling boom!, and our car exploded. I remember feeling weightless, like I was being crushed, fried, and hosed down all at the same time. I peeled my forehead off the back of the driver's seat and said, "Ow."_

 

“All that, and you just say ow?” Jason asks Percy.

 

“What can I say. I'm one of a kind,” Percy replied smirking.

****_  
_ **_"Percy!" my mom shouted._ ** ****_  
_ **_"I'm okay... ."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_I tried to shake off the daze. I wasn't dead. The car hadn't really exploded. We'd swerved into a ditch. Our driver's-side doors were wedged in the mud. The roof had cracked open like an eggshell and rain was pouring in. Lightning. That was the only explanation. We'd been blasted right off the road._

 

Poseidon glares at Zeus but doesn't do anything since this happened in the past.

  
  


**_Next to me in the backseat was a big motionless lump. "Grover!"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_He was slumped over, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. I shook his furry hip, thinking, No! Even if you are half barnyard animal, you're my best friend and I don't want you to die!_ **

 

“Aww thanks Percy,” Grover says first bumping Percy.

 

****_  
_ **_Then he groaned "Food," and I knew there was hope. "Percy," my mother said, "we have to ..." Her voice faltered._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_I looked back. In a flash of lightning, through the mud-spattered rear windshield, I saw a figure lumbering toward us on the shoulder of the road. The sight of it made my skin crawl. It was a dark silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player. He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head. His top half was bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had horns._

 

“Can't be, is it?” Reyna mutters.

****_  
_ **_I swallowed hard. "Who is-"_ ** ****_  
_ **_"Percy," my mother said, deadly serious. "Get out of the car."_ ** ****_  
_ **_My mother threw herself against the driver's-side door. It was jammed shut in the mud. I tried mine. Stuck too. I looked up desperately at the hole in the roof. It might've been an exit, but the edges were sizzling and smoking._ ** ****_  
_ **_"Climb out the passenger's side!" my mother told me. "Percy-you have to run. Do you see that big tree?"_ ** ****_  
_ **_"What?"_ ** ****_  
_ **_Another flash of lightning, and through the smoking hole in the roof I saw the tree she meant: a huge, White House Christmas tree-sized pine at the crest of the nearest hill._ ** ****_  
_ **_"That's the property line," my mom said. "Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door."_ ** ****_  
_ **_"Mom, you're coming too."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_Her face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean. "No!" I shouted. "You are coming with me. Help me carry Grover."_

 

“Loyal demigod,” Athena mutters.

****_  
_ **_"Food!" Grover moaned, a little louder._ ** ****_  
_ **_The man with the blanket on his head kept coming toward us, making his grunting, snorting noises. As he got closer, I realized he couldn't be holding a blanket over his head, because his hands-huge meaty hands-were swinging at his sides. There was no blanket. Meaning the bulky, fuzzy mass that was too big to be his head ... was his head. And the points that looked like horns ..._ ** ****_  
_ **_"He doesn't want us," my mother told me. "He wants you. Besides, I can't cross the property line."_ ** ****_  
_ **_"But..."_ ** ****_  
_ **_"We don't have time, Percy. Go. Please."_ ** ****_  
_ **_I got mad, then-mad at my mother, at Grover the goat, at the thing with horns that was lumbering toward us slowly and deliberately like, like a bull. I climbed across Grover and pushed the door open into the rain. "We're going together. Come on,_ ** ****_  
_ **_Mom."_ ** ****_  
_ **_"I told you-"_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"Mom! I am not leaving you. Help me with Grover."_

 

“There was no way I was leaving my mom behind,” Percy states firmly.

**_  
_ ** **_I didn't wait for her answer. I scrambled outside, dragging Grover from the car. He was surprisingly light, but I couldn't have carried him very far if my mom hadn't come to my aid. Together, we draped Grover's arms over our shoulders and started stumbling uphill through wet waist-high grass. Glancing back, I got my first clear look at the monster. He was seven feet tall, easy, his arms and legs like something from the cover of Muscle Man magazine-bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other 'ceps, all stuffed like baseballs under vein-webbed skin. He wore no clothes except underwear-I mean, bright white Fruit of the Looms_ **

 

That got some demigods to chuckle and break a bit of the tension.

 

**_-which would've looked funny, except that the top half of his body was so_ ** **_  
_ ** **_scary. Coarse brown hair started at about his belly button and got thicker as it reached his shoulders. His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had a snout as long as my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes, and horns-enormous black-and-white horns with points you just couldn't get from an electric sharpener. I recognized the monster, all right. He had been in one of the first stories Mr. Brunner told us. But he couldn't be real._ **

 

“He is and he's annoying,” Percy mutters.

****_  
_ **_I blinked the rain out of my eyes. "That's-"_ ** ****_  
_ **_"Pasiphae's son," my mother said. "I wish I'd known how badly they want to kill you."_ ** ****_  
_ **_"But he's the Min-"_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"Don't say his name," she warned. "Names have power."_

 

“Smart woman,” Athena says.

****_  
_ **_The pine tree was still way too far-a hundred yards uphill at least._ ** ****_  
_ **_I glanced behind me again. The bull-man hunched over our car, looking in the windows-or not looking, exactly. More like snuffling,_ ** ****_  
_ **_nuzzling. I wasn't sure why he bothered, since we were only about fifty feet away._ ** ****_  
_ **_"Food?" Grover moaned._ ** ****_  
_ **_"Shhh," I told him. "Mom, what's he doing? Doesn't he see us?"_ ** ****_  
_ **_"His sight and hearing are terrible," she said. "He goes by smell. But he'll figure out where we are soon_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_enough."_

 

“How does she know this?” Athena asks.

 

“She did her research, she wanted to keep me safe,” Percy replied.

**_  
_ ** **_As if on cue, the bull-man bellowed in rage. He picked up Gabe's Camaro by the torn roof, the chassis creaking and groaning. He raised the car over his head and threw it down the road. It slammed into the wet asphalt and skidded in a shower of sparks for about half a mile before coming to a stop. The gas tank exploded. Not a scratch, I remembered Gabe saying. Oops._ **

 

“You are a strange demigod,” Annabeth mutters.

****_  
_ **_"Percy," my mom said. "When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way- directly sideways. He can't change directions very well once he's charging. Do you understand?"_ ** ****_  
_ **_"How do you know all this?"_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"I've been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you near me."_

 

“She wasn't selfish, she simply wanted to keep you out of this world, and safe. Just like any mother would,” Hestia says tending to the hearth.

****_  
_ **_"Keeping me near you? But-"  Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill. He'd smelled us. The pine tree was only a few more yards, but the hill was getting steeper and slicker, and Grover wasn't getting any lighter. The bull-man closed in. Another few seconds and he'd be on top of us. My mother must've been exhausted, but she shouldered Grover. "Go, Percy! Separate! Remember what I said."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_I didn't want to split up, but I had the feeling she was right-it was our only chance. I sprinted to the left, turned, and saw the creature bearing down on me. His black eyes glowed with hate. He reeked like rotten meat. He lowered his head and charged, those razor-sharp horns aimed straight at my chest. The fear in my stomach made me want to bolt, but that wouldn't work. I could never outrun this thing._

 

“Pretty sure you could now,” Grover says.

****_  
_ **_So I held my ground, and at the last moment, I jumped to the side. The bull-man stormed past like a freight train, then bellowed with frustration and turned, but not toward me this time, toward my mother, who was setting Grover down in the grass. We'd reached the crest of the hill. Down the other side I could see a valley, just as my mother had said,_ ** ****_  
_ **_and the lights of a farmhouse glowing yellow through the rain. But that was half a mile away. We'd never make it. The bull-man grunted, pawing the ground. He kept eyeing my mother, who was now retreating slowly downhill, back toward the road, trying to lead the monster away from Grover._ ** ****_  
_ **_"Run, Percy!" she told me. "I can't go any farther. Run!"_ ** ****_  
_ **_But I just stood there, frozen in fear, as the monster charged her. She tried to sidestep, as she'd told me to do, but the monster had learned his lesson. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck as she tried to get away. He lifted her as she struggled, kicking and pummeling the air._ ** ****_  
_ **_"Mom!"_ ** ****_  
_ **_She caught my eyes, managed to choke out one last word: "Go!"_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_Then, with an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around my mother's neck, and she dissolved before my eyes, melting into light, a shimmering golden form, as if she were a holographic projection._

 

“She's not dead,” Poseidon mutters to himself trying to calm his heart.

 

“Is she dead?” Piper asks and sighs relieved when Percy shakes his head.

 

“She's safe at home, at the time though I did think she was dead.”

 

**_A blinding flash, and she was simply ... gone._ ** ****_  
_ **_"No!"_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_Anger replaced my fear. Newfound strength burned in my limbs-the same rush of energy I'd gotten when Mrs. Dodds grew talons. The bull-man bore down on Grover, who lay helpless in the grass. The monster hunched over, snuffling my best friend, as if he were about to lift Grover up and make him dissolve too. I couldn't allow that._

 

“Kickass Percy mode!” Grover yells making Percy blush.

****_  
_ **_I stripped off my red rain jacket. "Hey!" I screamed, waving the jacket, running to one side of the monster. "Hey, stupid! Ground beef!"_ ** ****_  
_ **_"Raaaarrrrr!" The monster turned toward me, shaking his meaty fists._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_I had an idea a stupid idea, but better than no idea at all._

 

“Your stupid ideas always seem to work,” Grover mutters.

  
  


**_I put my back to the big pine tree and waved my red jacket in front of the bull-man, thinking I'd jump out of the way at the last moment. But it didn't happen like that._ ** ****_  
_ **_The bull-man charged too fast, his arms out to grab me whichever way I tried to dodge._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_Time slowed down. My legs tensed. I couldn't jump sideways, so I leaped straight up, kicking off from the creature's head, using it as a springboard, turning in midair, and landing on his neck. How did I do that?_

 

“Well if it's raining, I suppose that the water gave you strength,” Annabeth theorizes.

 

“That's probably why,” Percy agrees.

 

**_I didn't have time to figure it out. A millisecond later, the monster's head slammed_ ** ****_  
_ **_into the tree and the impact nearly knocked my teeth out. The bull-man staggered around, trying to shake me. I locked my arms around his horns to keep from_ ** ****_  
_ **_being thrown. Thunder and lightning were still going strong. The rain was in my eyes. The smell of rotten meat burned my nostrils. The monster shook himself around and bucked like a rodeo bull. He should have just backed up into the tree and smashed me flat, but I was starting to realize that this thing had only one gear: forward. Meanwhile, Grover started groaning in the grass. I wanted to yell at him to shut up, but the way I was_ ** ****_  
_ **_getting tossed around, if I opened my mouth I'd bite my own tongue off._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"Food!" Grover moaned._

 

“I’m sorry Percy, I was supposed to protect you.” Grover sighs sadly.

 

“You did warn mom and that was protecting me. We're friends, we protect one another,” Percy says smiling bringing Grover's spirit up a bit.

**_  
_ ** **_The bull-man wheeled toward him, pawed the ground again, and got ready to charge. I thought about how he had squeezed the life out of my mother, made her disappear in a flash of light, and rage filled me like high-octane fuel. I got both hands around one horn and I pulled backward with all my might. The monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, then-snap!_ **

 

“You are amazing man,” Leo tells Percy.

 

“I'm not that amazing,” Percy says blushing.

 

“You're too modest,” Annabeth says chuckling.

****_  
_ **_The bull-man screamed and flung me through the air. I landed flat on my back in the grass. My head smacked against a rock. When I sat up, my vision was blurry, but I had a horn in my hands, a ragged bone weapon the size of a knife. The monster charged._ ** ****_  
_ **_Without thinking, I rolled to one side and came up kneeling. As the monster barreled past, I drove the broken horn straight into his side, right up under his furry rib cage._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_The bull-man roared in agony. He flailed, clawing at his chest, then began to disintegrate-not like my mother, in a flash of golden light, but like crumbling sand, blown away in chunks by the wind, the same way Mrs. Dodds had burst apart. The monster was gone._

 

Percy got many cheers.

**_  
_ ** **_The rain had stopped. The storm still rumbled, but only in the distance. I smelled like livestock and my knees were shaking. My head felt like it was splitting open. I was weak and scared and trembling with grief I'd just seen my mother vanish. I wanted to lie down and cry, but there was Grover, needing my help, so I managed to haul him up and stagger down into the valley, toward the lights of the farm-house. I was crying, calling for my mother, but I held on to Grover-I wasn't going to let him go._ **

 

“Loyal to a fault,” Annabeth says smiling.

 

**_The last thing I remember is collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at a ceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around a yellow light, and the stern faces of a familiar-looking bearded man and a pretty girl, her blond hair curled like a princess's._ **

 

“Aww she called you a princess,” Piper tells a blushing Annabeth.

 

“Thank you,” Annabeth tells a blushing Percy.

 

**_They both looked down at me, and the girl said, "He's the_ ** ****_  
_ **_one. He must be."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"Silence, Annabeth," the man said. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside."_

 

“And done,” Piper says.

 

“Unto the next chapter,” Leo says.

  
  



	6. What is pinochle?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meh

“who's going to read next?” Piper asks.

 

“I'll read next,” Leo says shrugging and putting down the items he had been fiddling with. Piper hands him the book and he flips to the next chapter and begins reading.

 

**_5 I PLAY PINOCHLE_ ** **_  
_ ** **_WITH A HORSE_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I had weird dreams full of barnyard animals. Most of them wanted to kill me. The rest wanted food._ **

 

“That is a weird dream,” Annabeth says chuckling.

**_  
_ ** **_I must've woken up several times, but what I heard and saw made no sense, so I just passed out again. I remember lying in a soft bed, being spoon-fed something that tasted like buttered popcorn, only it was_ ** **_  
_ ** **_pudding. The girl with curly blond hair hovered over me, smirking as she scraped drips off my chin with_ ** **_  
_ ** **_the spoon._ ** **_  
_ ** **_When she saw my eyes open, she asked, "What will happen at the summer solstice?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I managed to croak, "What?" She looked around, as if afraid someone would over-hear. "What's going on? What was stolen? We've_ ** **_  
_ ** **_only got a few weeks!"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I'm sorry," I mumbled, "I don't..."_ **

 

“Annabeth he was new camper how was he supposed to know what was going on?” Grover asks Annabeth whom blushes and doesn't answer.

 

**_  
_ ** **_Somebody knocked on the door, and the girl quickly filled my mouth with pudding._ ** **_  
_ ** **_The next time I woke up, the girl was gone._ ** **_  
_ ** **_A husky blond dude, like a surfer, stood in the corner of the bedroom keeping watch over me. He had_ ** **_  
_ ** **_blue eyes- at least a dozen of them-on his cheeks, his forehead, the backs of his hands._ **

 

“He would make a great hide and seek partner,” Leo says interrupting himself.

 

**_  
_ ** **_* * *_ ** **_  
_ ** **_When I finally came around for good, there was nothing weird about my surroundings, except that they_ ** **_  
_ ** **_were nicer than I was used to. I was sitting in a deck chair on a huge porch, gazing across a meadow at_ ** **_  
_ ** **_green hills in the distance. The breeze smelled like strawberries. There was a blanket over my legs, a_ ** **_  
_ ** **_pillow behind my neck. All that was great, but my mouth felt like a scorpion had been using it for a nest._ **

 

“That sounds painful,” Piper mutters.

 

**_  
_ ** **_My tongue was dry and nasty and every one of my teeth hurt._ ** **_  
_ ** **_On the table next to me was a tall drink. It looked like iced apple juice, with a green straw and a paper_ ** **_  
_ ** **_parasol stuck through a maraschino cherry._ ** **_  
_ ** **_My hand was so weak I almost dropped the glass once I got my fingers around it._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Careful," a familiar voice said. Grover was leaning against the porch railing, looking like he hadn't slept in a week. Under one arm, he_ ** **_  
_ ** **_cradled a shoe box. He was wearing blue jeans, Converse hi-tops and a bright orange T-shirt that said_ ** **_  
_ ** **_CAMP HALF-BLOOD. Just plain old Grover, Not the goat boy._ **

 

“I'm not a goat boy,” Griver says crossing his arms. 

 

Percy just grins and says nothing.

**_  
_ ** **_So maybe I'd had a nightmare. Maybe my mom was okay. We were still on vacation, and we'd stopped_ ** **_  
_ ** **_here at this big house for some reason. And ..._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You saved my life," Grover said. "I... well, the least I could do ... I went back to the hill. I thought you_ ** **_  
_ ** **_might want this."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Reverently, he placed the shoe box in my lap._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Inside was a black-and-white bull's horn, the base jagged from being broken off, the tip splattered with_ ** **_  
_ ** **_dried blood. It hadn't been a nightmare._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"The Minotaur," I said._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Urn, Percy, it isn't a good idea-"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"That's what they call him in the Greek myths, isn't it?" I demanded. "The Minotaur. Half man, half bull."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Grover shifted uncomfortably. "You've been out for two days. How much do you remember?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"My mom. Is she really ..."_ **

  
  


“I really thought that I had lost her,” Percy says sighing. 

 

“But you didn't and she's home right now, safe and sound,” Annabeth says making Percy cheer up a bit.

 

“Are you two together?” Piper asks, this question had been in the edge of her mind for a while now.

 

“n-no we're not,” Percy replies turning bright red along with Annabeth. 

 

“Just really close friends,” Annabeth replies blushing.

 

_ They are definitely a couple  _ Piper thinks but nods.

**_  
_ ** **_He looked down. I stared across the meadow. There were groves of trees, a winding stream, acres of strawberries spread_ ** **_  
_ ** **_out under the blue sky. The valley was surrounded by rolling hills, and the tallest one, directly in front of_ ** **_  
_ ** **_us, was the one with the huge pine tree on top. Even that looked beautiful in the sunlight._ **

 

“Why thank you,” Thalia says acting prideful and then laughing along with Percy.

 

**_  
_ ** **_My mother was gone. The whole world should be black and cold. Nothing should look beautiful._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I'm sorry," Grover sniffled. "I'm a failure. I'm-I'm the worst satyr in the world."_ **

 

“You are not the worst satyr, you managed to find 4 of the big three children and keep them as safe as you could. That makes you an amazing satyr,” Nico says firmly.

 

“I agree with Nico,” Annabeth, Thalia, and Percy say.

 

Grover smiles and thanks all of them.

**_  
_ ** **_He moaned, stomping his foot so hard it came off. I mean, the Converse hi-top came off. The inside was_ ** **_  
_ ** **_filled with Styrofoam, except for a hoof-shaped hole._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Oh, Styx!" he mumbled._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Thunder rolled across the clear sky._ ** **_  
_ ** **_As he struggled to get his hoof back in the fake foot, I thought, Well, that settles it._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Grover was a satyr. I was ready to bet that if I shaved his curly brown hair, I'd find tiny horns on his head._ ** **_  
_ ** **_But I was too miserable to care that satyrs existed, or even minotaurs. All that meant was my mom_ ** **_  
_ ** **_really had been squeezed into nothingness, dissolved into yellow light._ **

 

“I probably should've guessed that my mom wasn't dead if she had vanished into yellow light,” Percy mutters.

 

“In your defense, you didn't know about the godly world yet,” Annabeth says 

**_  
_ ** **_I was alone. An orphan. I would have to live with ... Smelly Gabe? No. That would never happen. I would_ ** **_  
_ ** **_live on the streets first. I would pretend I was seventeen and join the army. I'd do something._ **

 

“I would've done something to help you,” Poseidon tells Percy who smiles 

**_  
_ ** **_Grover was still sniffling. The poor kid-poor goat, satyr, whatever-looked as if he expected to be hit._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I said, "It wasn't your fault." "Yes, it was. I was supposed to protect you."_ **

 

“And you did,” Percy tells Grover firmly.

**_  
_ ** **_"Did my mother ask you to protect me?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"No. But that's my job. I'm a keeper. At least... I was."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"But why ..." I suddenly felt dizzy, my vision swimming._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Don't strain yourself," Grover said. "Here." He helped me hold my glass and put the straw to my lips._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I recoiled at the taste, because I was expecting apple juice. It wasn't that at all. It was chocolate-chip_ ** **_  
_ ** **_cookies. Liquid cookies. And not just any cookies-my mom's homemade blue chocolate-chip cookies,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_buttery and hot, with the chips still melting._ **

 

“I really want some of my mom's cookies right now,” Percy mutters.

 

**_Drinking it, my whole body felt warm and good, full of_ ** **_  
_ ** **_energy. My grief didn't go away, but I felt as if my mom had just brushed her hand against my cheek,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_given me a cookie the way she used to when I was small, and told me everything was going to be okay._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Before I knew it, I'd drained the glass. I stared into it, sure I'd just had a warm drink, but the ice cubes_ ** **_  
_ ** **_hadn't even melted._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Was it good?" Grover asked._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I nodded._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"What did it taste like?" He sounded so wistful, I felt guilty._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Sorry," I said. "I should've let you taste."His eyes got wide. "No! That's not what I meant. I just... wondered."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Chocolate-chip cookies," I said. "My mom's. Homemade."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_He sighed. "And how do you feel?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Like I could throw Nancy Bobofit a hundred yards."_ **

 

“You should,” Leo mutters once again interrupting himself. 

**_  
_ ** **_"That's good," he said. "That's good. I don't think you could risk drinking any more of that stuff"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"What do you mean?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_He took the empty glass from me gingerly, as if it were dynamite, and set it back on the table. "Come on._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Chiron and Mr. D are waiting."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_The porch wrapped all the way around the farmhouse._ ** **_  
_ ** **_My legs felt wobbly, trying to walk that far. Grover offered to carry the Minotaur horn, but I held on to_ ** **_  
_ ** **_it. I'd paid for that souvenir the hard way. I wasn't going to let it go._ ** **_  
_ ** **_As we came around the opposite end of the house, I caught my breath._ ** **_  
_ ** **_We must've been on the north shore of Long Island, because on this side of the house, the valley_ ** **_  
_ ** **_marched all the way up to the water, which glittered about a mile in the distance. Between here and_ ** **_  
_ ** **_there, I simply couldn't process everything I was seeing. The landscape was dotted with buildings that_ ** **_  
_ ** **_looked like ancient Greek architecture-an open-air pavilion, an amphitheater, a circular arena-except_ ** **_  
_ ** **_that they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun. In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high school-age kids and satyrs played volleyball. Canoes glided across a small lake. Kids in bright_ ** **_  
_ ** **_orange T-shirts like Grover's were chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Some shot targets at an archery range. Others rode horses down a wooded trail, and, unless I was_ ** **_  
_ ** **_hallucinating, some of their horses had wings._ **

 

“That sounds amazing,” Piper says having an aged look. Leo nods agreeing with her.

**_  
_ ** **_Down at the end of the porch, two men sat across from each other at a card table. The blond-haired girl_ ** **_  
_ ** **_who'd spoon-fed me popcorn-flavored pudding was leaning on the porch rail next to them._ ** **_  
_ ** **_The man facing me was small, but porky. He had a red nose, big watery eyes, and curly hair so black it_ ** **_  
_ ** **_was almost purple. He looked like those paintings of baby angels- what do you call them, hubbubs? No,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_cherubs. That's it. He looked like a cherub who'd turned middle-aged in a trailer park._ **

 

“How did you describe me Perry!?” Dionysus demands glaring at Percy.

 

Perry doesn't even look faced and simply shrugs. Grumbling Dionysus settles down when Poseidon glares at him.

  
  


**_He wore a tiger-_ ** **_  
_ ** **_pattern Hawaiian shirt, and he would've fit right in at one of Gabe's poker parties, except I got the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_feeling this guy could've out-gambled even my step-father._ **

 

Dionysus nods still glaring at Percy.

**_  
_ ** **_"That's Mr. D," Grover murmured to me. "He's the camp director. Be polite. The girl, that's Annabeth_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Chase. She's just a camper, but she's been here longer than just about anybody. And you already know_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Chiron... ."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_He pointed at the guy whose back was to me._ ** **_  
_ ** **_First, I realized he was sitting in the wheelchair. Then I recognized the tweed jacket, the thinning brown_ ** **_  
_ ** **_hair, the scraggly beard._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Mr. Brunner!" I cried._ **

 

“it's surprisingly hard to break out of the habit of calling a person the name they've called them for a long time,” Percy mutters.

**_  
_ ** **_The Latin teacher turned and smiled at me. His eyes had that mischievous glint they sometimes got in_ ** **_  
_ ** **_class when he pulled a pop quiz and made all the multiple choice answers B._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Ah, good, Percy," he said. "Now we have four for pinochle."_ **

 

“What's pinochle?” Leo asks interrupting himself.

 

“It is a card game for two or more players using a 48-card deck consisting of two of each card from nine to ace, the object being to score points for various combinations and to win tricks.” Annabeth explains the game in the shortest way possible. “it's difficult to explain unless you play it yourself.”

 

**_He offered me a chair to the right of Mr. D, who looked at me with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great_ ** **_  
_ ** **_sigh. "Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now, don't expect me to be glad_ ** **_  
_ ** **_to see you."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Uh, thanks." I scooted a little farther away from him because, if there was one thing I had learned from_ ** **_  
_ ** **_living with Gabe, it was how to tell when an adult has been hitting the happy juice. If Mr. D was a_ ** **_  
_ ** **_stranger to alcohol, I was a satyr._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Annabeth?" Mr. Brunner called to the blond girl._ ** **_  
_ ** **_She came forward and Mr. Brunner introduced us. "This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for_ ** **_  
_ ** **_now."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Annabeth said, "Sure, Chiron."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_She was probably my age, maybe a couple of inches taller, and a whole lot more athletic looking. With_ ** **_  
_ ** **_her deep tan and her curly blond hair, she was almost exactly what I thought a stereotypical California_ ** **_  
_ ** **_girl would look like, except her eyes ruined the image._ **

 

“What’s wrong with my eyes?” Annabeth asks glaring at percy.

 

“Nothing, I thought they were intimidating,” Percy replies.

 

**_They were startling gray, like storm clouds; pretty,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_but intimidating, too, as if she were analyzing the best way to take me down in a fight._ **

 

“I probably was,” Annabeth admits.

**_  
_ ** **_She glanced at the minotaur horn in my hands, then back at me. I imagined she was going to say, You_ ** **_  
_ ** **_killed a minotaur! or Wow, you're so awesome! or something like that._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Instead she said, "You drool when you sleep."_ **

 

“I didn't know what to say so I ended up saying that,” Annabeth mutters blushing.

**_  
_ ** **_Then she sprinted off down the lawn, her blond hair flying behind her._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"So," I said, anxious to change the subject. "You, uh, work here, Mr. Brunner?" "Not Mr. Brunner," the ex-Mr. Brunner said. "I'm afraid that was a pseudonym. You may call me Chiron."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Okay." Totally confused, I looked at the director. "And Mr. D ... does that stand for something?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Mr. D stopped shuffling the cards. He looked at me like I'd just belched loudly. "Young man, names are_ ** **_  
_ ** **_powerful things. You don't just go around using them for no reason."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Oh. Right. Sorry."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I must say, Percy," Chiron-Brunner broke in, "I'm glad to see you alive. It's been a long time since I've_ ** **_  
_ ** **_made a house call to a potential camper. I'd hate to think I've wasted my time."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"House call?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"My year at Yancy Academy, to instruct you. We have satyrs at most schools, of course, keeping a_ ** **_  
_ ** **_lookout. But Grover alerted me as soon as he met you. He sensed you were something special, so I_ ** **_  
_ ** **_decided to come upstate. I convinced the other Latin teacher to ... ah, take a leave of absence."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I tried to remember the beginning of the school year. It seemed like so long ago, but I did have a fuzzy_ ** **_  
_ ** **_memory of there being another Latin teacher my first week at Yancy. Then, without explanation, he had_ ** **_  
_ ** **_disappeared and Mr. Brunner had taken the class._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You came to Yancy just to teach me?" I asked._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Chiron nodded. "Honestly, I wasn't sure about you at first. We contacted your mother, let her know we_ ** **_  
_ ** **_were keeping an eye on you in case you were ready for Camp Half-Blood. But you still had so much to_ ** **_  
_ ** **_learn. Nevertheless, you made it here alive, and that's always the first test." "Grover," Mr. D said impatiently, "are you playing or not?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Yes, sir!" Grover trembled as he took the fourth chair, though I didn't know why he should be so afraid_ ** **_  
_ ** **_of a pudgy little man in a tiger-print Hawaiian shirt._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You do know how to play pinochle?" Mr. D eyed me suspiciously._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I'm afraid not," I said._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I'm afraid not, sir," he said._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Sir," I repeated. I was liking the camp director less and less._ **

 

“No one likes him,” Annabeth says making Dionysus glare at her.

**_  
_ ** **_"Well," he told me, "it is, along with gladiator fighting and Pac-Man, one of the greatest games ever_ ** **_  
_ ** **_invented by humans. I would expect all civilized young men to know the rules."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I'm sure the boy can learn," Chiron said._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Please," I said, "what is this place? What am I doing here? Mr. Brun-Chiron-why would you go to Yancy_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Academy just to teach me?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Mr. D snorted. "I asked the same question."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_The camp director dealt the cards. Grover flinched every time one landed in his pile. Chiron smiled at me sympathetically, the way he used to in Latin class, as if to let me know that no_ ** **_  
_ ** **_matter what my average was, I was his star student. He expected me to have the right answer._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Percy," he said. "Did your mother tell you nothing?'_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"She said ..." I remembered her sad eyes, looking out over the sea. "She told me she was afraid to send_ ** **_  
_ ** **_me here, even though my father had wanted her to. She said that once I was here, I probably couldn't_ ** **_  
_ ** **_leave. She wanted to keep me close to her."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Typical," Mr. D said. "That's how they usually get killed. Young man, are you bidding or not?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"What?" I asked._ ** **_  
_ ** **_He explained, impatiently, how you bid in pinochle, and so I did._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I'm afraid there's too much to tell," Chiron said. "I'm afraid our usual orientation film won't be_ ** **_  
_ ** **_sufficient."_ **

 

“So that's why you didn't know much!” Annabeth exclaims. “I thought you had watched the orientation film and were just trying to get on my nerves,” She tells percy sheepishly. Percy just chuckles and grins.

**_  
_ ** **_"Orientation film?" I asked._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"No," Chiron decided. "Well, Percy. You know your friend Grover is a satyr. You know"-he pointed to the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_horn in the shoe box-"that you have killed the Minotaur. No small feat, either, lad. What you may not_ ** **_  
_ ** **_know is that great powers are at work in your life. Gods-the forces you call the Greek gods-are very_ ** **_  
_ ** **_much alive."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I stared at the others around the table._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I waited for somebody to yell, Not! But all I got was Mr. D yelling, "Oh, a royal marriage. Trick! Trick!" He_ ** **_  
_ ** **_cackled as he tallied up his points. "Mr. D," Grover asked timidly, "if you're not going to eat it, could I have your Diet Coke can?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Eh? Oh, all right."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Grover bit a huge shard out of the empty aluminum can and chewed it mournfully._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Wait," I told Chiron. "You're telling me there's such a thing as God."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Well, now," Chiron said. "God-capital G, God. That's a different matter altogether. We shan't deal with_ ** **_  
_ ** **_the metaphysical."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Metaphysical? But you were just talking about-"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Ah, gods, plural, as in, great beings that control the forces of nature and human endeavors: the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_immortal gods of Olympus. That's a smaller matter."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Smaller?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Yes, quite. The gods we discussed in Latin class."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Zeus," I said. "Hera. Apollo. You mean them."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_And there it was again-distant thunder on a cloudless day._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Young man," said Mr. D, "I would really be less casual about throwing those names around, if I were_ ** **_  
_ ** **_you." "But they're stories," I said. "They're-myths, to explain lightning and the seasons and stuff. They're what_ ** **_  
_ ** **_people believed before there was science."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Science!" Mr. D scoffed. "And tell me, Perseus Jackson"-I flinched when he said my real name, which I_ ** **_  
_ ** **_never told anybody-"what will people think of your 'science' two thousand years from now?" Mr. D_ ** **_  
_ ** **_continued. "Hmm? They will call it primitive mumbo jumbo. That's what. Oh, I love mortals-they have_ ** **_  
_ ** **_absolutely no sense of perspective. They think they've come so-o-o far. And have they, Chiron? Look at_ ** **_  
_ ** **_this boy and tell me."_ **

 

“They have come far,” Athena says.

 

**_  
_ ** **_I wasn't liking Mr. D much, but there was something about the way he called me mortal, as if... he_ ** **_  
_ ** **_wasn't. It was enough to put a lump in my throat, to suggest why Grover was dutifully minding his cards,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_chewing his soda can, and keeping his mouth shut._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Percy," Chiron said, "you may choose to believe or not, but the fact is that immortal means immortal._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Can you imagine that for a moment, never dying? Never fading? Existing, just as you are, for all time?"_ **

 

“Sounds fun…..but also lonely and sad,” Leo says.

 

**_  
_ ** **_I was about to answer, off the top of my head, that it sounded like a pretty good deal, but the tone of_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Chiron's voice made me hesitate._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You mean, whether people believed in you or not," I said._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Exactly," Chiron agreed. "If you were a god, how would you like being called a myth, an old story to_ ** **_  
_ ** **_explain lightning? What if I told you, Perseus Jackson, that someday people would call you a myth, just_ ** **_  
_ ** **_created to explain how little boys can get over losing their mothers?"_ **

 

“That was harsh,” Jason mutters. Reyna silently agrees with him.

**_  
_ ** **_My heart pounded. He was trying to make me angry for some reason, but I wasn't going to let him. I_ ** **_  
_ ** **_said, "I wouldn't like it. But I don't believe in gods."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Oh, you'd better," Mr. D murmured. "Before one of them incinerates you." Grover said, "P-please, sir. He's just lost his mother. He's in shock."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"A lucky thing, too," Mr. D grumbled, playing a card. "Bad enough I'm confined to this miserable job,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_working with boys who don't even believe.'"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_He waved his hand and a goblet appeared on the table, as if the sunlight had bent, momentarily, and_ ** **_  
_ ** **_woven the air into glass. The goblet filled itself with red wine._ ** **_  
_ ** **_My jaw dropped, but Chiron hardly looked up._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Mr. D," he warned, "your restrictions."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Mr. D looked at the wine and feigned surprise._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Dear me." He looked at the sky and yelled, "Old habits! Sorry!"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_More thunder._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Mr. D waved his hand again, and the wineglass changed into a fresh can of Diet Coke. He sighed_ ** **_  
_ ** **_unhappily, popped the top of the soda, and went back to his card game._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Chiron winked at me. "Mr. D offended his father a while back, took a fancy to a wood nymph who had_ ** **_  
_ ** **_been declared off-limits."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"A wood nymph," I repeated, still staring at the Diet Coke can like it was from outer space. "Yes," Mr. D confessed. "Father loves to punish me. The first time, Prohibition. Ghastly! Absolutely_ ** **_  
_ ** **_horrid ten years! The second time-well, she really was pretty, and I couldn't stay away-the second time,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_he sent me here. Half-Blood Hill. Summer camp for brats like you. 'Be a better influence,' he told me._ ** **_  
_ ** **_'Work with youths rather than tearing them down.' Ha.' Absolutely unfair."_ **

 

“Yeah, it was really unfair for us to have to deal with Mr. D,” Nico says. 

**_  
_ ** **_Mr. D sounded about six years old, like a pouting little kid._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"And ..." I stammered, "your father is ..."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Di immortales, Chiron," Mr. D said. "I thought you taught this boy the basics. My father is Zeus, of_ ** **_  
_ ** **_course."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I ran through D names from Greek mythology. Wine. The skin of a tiger. The satyrs that all seemed to_ ** **_  
_ ** **_work here. The way Grover cringed, as if Mr. D were his master._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You're Dionysus," I said. "The god of wine."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Mr. D rolled his eyes. "What do they say, these days, Grover? Do the children say, 'Well, duh!'?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Y-yes, Mr. D."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Then, well, duh! Percy Jackson. Did you think I was Aphrodite, perhaps?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You're a god."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Yes, child." "A god. You."_ **

 

“Hard to believe but yes he's a god,” Athena says.

**_  
_ ** **_He turned to look at me straight on, and I saw a kind of purplish fire in his eyes, a hint that this whiny,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_plump little man was only showing me the tiniest bit of his true nature. I saw visions of grape vines_ ** **_  
_ ** **_choking unbelievers to death, drunken warriors insane with battle lust, sailors screaming as their hands_ ** **_  
_ ** **_turned to flippers, their faces elon-gating into dolphin snouts. I knew that if I pushed him, Mr. D would_ ** **_  
_ ** **_show me worse things. He would plant a disease in my brain that would leave me wearing a strait-jacket_ ** **_  
_ ** **_in a rubber room for the rest of my life._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Would you like to test me, child?" he said quietly._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"No. No, sir."_ **

 

“You test him all the time now,” Annabeth mutters and sighs.

**_  
_ ** **_The fire died a little. He turned back to his card game. "I believe I win."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Not quite, Mr. D," Chiron said. He set down a straight, tallied the points, and said, "The game goes to_ ** **_  
_ ** **_me."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I thought Mr. D was going to vaporize Chiron right out of his wheelchair, but he just sighed through his_ ** **_  
_ ** **_nose, as if he were used to being beaten by the Latin teacher. He got up, and Grover rose, too._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I'm tired," Mr. D said. "I believe I'll take a nap before the sing-along tonight. But first, Grover, we need_ ** **_  
_ ** **_to talk, again, about your less-than-perfect performance on this assignment."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Grover's face beaded with sweat. "Y-yes, sir."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Mr. D turned to me. "Cabin eleven, Percy Jackson. And mind your manners."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_He swept into the farmhouse, Grover following miserably. "Will Grover be okay?" I asked Chiron._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Chiron nodded, though he looked a bit troubled. "Old Dionysus isn't really mad. He just hates his job._ ** **_  
_ ** **_He's been ... ah, grounded, I guess you would say, and he can't stand waiting another century before_ ** **_  
_ ** **_he's allowed to go back to Olympus."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Mount Olympus," I said. "You're telling me there really is a palace there?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Well now, there's Mount Olympus in Greece. And then there's the home of the gods, the convergence_ ** **_  
_ ** **_point of their powers, which did indeed used to be on Mount Olympus. It's still called Mount Olympus,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_out of respect to the old ways, but the palace moves, Percy, just as the gods do."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You mean the Greek gods are here? Like ... in America?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Well, certainly. The gods move with the heart of the West."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"The what?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Come now, Percy. What you call 'Western civilization.' Do you think it's just an abstract concept? No,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_it's a living force. A collective consciousness that has burned bright for thousands of years. The gods are_ ** **_  
_ ** **_part of it. You might even say they are the source of it, or at least, they are tied so tightly to it that they_ ** **_  
_ ** **_couldn't possibly fade, not unless all of Western civilization were obliterated. The fire started in Greece._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Then, as you well know-or as I hope you know, since you passed my course-the heart of the fire moved_ ** **_  
_ ** **_to Rome, and so did the gods. Oh, different names, perhaps-Jupiter for Zeus, Venus for Aphrodite, and_ ** **_  
_ ** **_so on-but the same forces, the same gods."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"And then they died."_ **

 

“well that was blunt,” Nico says chuckling.

  
  


**_"Died? No. Did the West die? The gods simply moved, to Germany, to France, to Spain, for a while._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Wherever the flame was brightest, the gods were there. They spent several centuries in England. All you_ ** **_  
_ ** **_need to do is look at the architecture. People do not forget the gods. Every place they've ruled, for the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_last three thousand years, you can see them in paintings, in statues, on the most important buildings._ ** **_  
_ ** **_And yes, Percy, of course they are now in your United States. Look at your symbol, the eagle of Zeus._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Look at the statue of Prometheus in Rockefeller Center, the Greek facades of your government buildings_ ** **_  
_ ** **_in Washington. I defy you to find any American city where the Olympians are not prominently displayed_ ** **_  
_ ** **_in multiple places._ **

 

“There is some places but I can't remember if the top of my head,” Annabeth says.

  
  


**_Like it or not-and believe me, plenty of people weren't very fond of Rome, either-_ ** **_  
_ ** **_America is now the heart of the flame. It is the great power of the West. And so Olympus is here. And_ ** **_  
_ ** **_we are here."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_It was all too much, especially the fact that I seemed to be included in Chiron's we, as if I were part of_ ** **_  
_ ** **_some club._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Who are you, Chiron? Who ... who am I?"_ **

 

“Percy jackson, reckless and loyal demigod,” Thalia says dramatically, sending most of the demigods into laughter.

 

**_  
_ ** **_Chiron smiled. He shifted his weight as if he were going to get up out of his wheelchair, but I knew that_ ** **_  
_ ** **_was impossible. He was paralyzed from the waist down._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Who are you?" he mused. "Well, that's the question we all want answered, isn't it? But for now, we_ ** **_  
_ ** **_should get you a bunk in cabin eleven. There will be new friends to meet. And plenty of time for lessons_ ** **_  
_ ** **_tomorrow._ **

 

“You need to start claiming your children, my cabin is so cramped that my actual kids barley have space. Besides do you not think of how hurt the unclaimed demigods feel?” Hermes asks glaring at the Gods who haven't claimed their children. They shift  int their seats shamefully and say nothing.

 

**_Besides, there will be s'mores at the campfire tonight, and I simply adore chocolate."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_And then he did rise from his wheelchair. But there was something odd about the way he did it. His_ ** **_  
_ ** **_blanket fell away from his legs, but the legs didn't move. His waist kept getting longer, rising above his_ ** **_  
_ ** **_belt. At first, I thought he was wearing very long, white velvet underwear, but as he kept rising out of_ ** **_  
_ ** **_the chair, taller than any man, I realized that the velvet underwear wasn't underwear; it was the front of_ ** **_  
_ ** **_an animal, muscle and sinew under coarse white fur. And the wheelchair wasn't a chair. It was some_ ** **_  
_ ** **_kind of container, an enormous box on wheels, and it must've been magic, because there's no way it_ ** **_  
_ ** **_could've held all of him. A leg came out, long and knobby-kneed, with a huge polished hoof. Then_ ** **_  
_ ** **_another front leg, then hindquarters, and then the box was empty, nothing but a metal shell with a_ ** **_  
_ ** **_couple of fake human legs attached. I stared at the horse who had just sprung from the wheelchair: a huge white stallion. But where its neck_ ** **_  
_ ** **_should be was the upper body of my Latin teacher, smoothly grafted to the horse's trunk._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"What a relief," the centaur said. "I'd been cooped up in there so long, my fetlocks had fallen asleep._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Now, come, Percy Jackson. Let's meet the other campers."_ **

 

“Is he a centaur?” Piper asks and Annabeth nods.

 

“That's the end of the chapter,” Leo says.

 


	7. Bathroom Lord

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is now the correct chapter!

“I can read next,” Jason says and is handed the book.

 

**_6 I BECOME SUPREME LORD_ ** **_  
_ ** **_OF THE BATHROOM_ **

 

“what?” almost everyone asks percy confused. He simply smirks and doesn't respond.

 

“wonder what clarisse would say if she were here,” Percy tells Annabeth making her laugh quietly. 

 

**_  
_ ** **_Once I got over the fact that my Latin teacher was a horse, we had a nice tour, though I was careful not_ ** **_  
_ ** **_to walk behind him. I'd done pooper-scooper patrol in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade a few times,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_and, I'm sorry, I did not trust Chiron's back end the way I trusted his front._ **

 

This got laughs out of mostly everyone.

**_  
_ ** **_We passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the minotaur_ ** **_  
_ ** **_horn I was carrying. Another said, "That's him."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Most of the campers were older than me. Their satyr friends were bigger than Grover, all of them_ ** **_  
_ ** **_trotting around in orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts, with nothing else to cover their bare shaggy_ ** **_  
_ ** **_hindquarters. I wasn't normally shy, but the way they stared at me made me uncomfortable. I felt like_ ** **_  
_ ** **_they were expecting me to do a flip or something._ **

 

“They probably weren't but it would've cool if you had,” Nico says chuckling.

  
  


**_I looked back at the farmhouse. It was a lot bigger than I'd realized-four stories tall, sky blue with white_ ** **_  
_ ** **_trim, like an upscale seaside resort. I was checking out the brass eagle weathervane on top when_ ** **_  
_ ** **_something caught my eye, a shadow in the uppermost window of the attic gable. Something had moved_ ** **_  
_ ** **_the curtain, just for a second, and I got the distinct impression I was being watched._ **

 

“it actually moved?” Annabeth asks surprised 

 

“yeah I thought the first time it moved was when it gave the quest to find Artemis,” Thalia says also looking shocked.

 

“it moved and I don't know why,” Percy replied shrugging.

 

**_  
_ ** **_"What's up there?" I asked Chiron._ ** **_  
_ ** **_He looked where I was pointing, and his smile faded. "Just the attic."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Somebody lives there?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"No," he said with finality. "Not a single living thing."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I got the feeling he was being truthful. But I was also sure something had moved that curtain._ **

 

“Soon it won't be a mummy giving prophecies and I thank you for finding her,” Apollo tells Percy confusing everyone, but when asked to clarify he doesn't.  

 

**_  
_ ** **_"Come along, Percy," Chiron said, his lighthearted tone now a little forced. "Lots to see."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_We walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr_ ** **_  
_ ** **_played a tune on a reed pipe._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Chiron told me the camp grew a nice crop for export to New York restaurants and Mount Olympus. "It_ ** **_  
_ ** **_pays our expenses," he explained. "And the strawberries take almost no effort."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_He said Mr. D had this effect on fruit-bearing plants: they just went crazy when he was around. It_ ** **_  
_ ** **_worked best with wine grapes, but Mr. D was restricted from growing those, so they grew strawberries_ ** **_  
_ ** **_instead._ **

 

“strawberries are delicious,” Piper says smiling.

 

**_I watched the satyr playing his pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in_ ** **_  
_ ** **_every direction, like refugees fleeing a fire. I wondered if Grover could work that kind of magic with_ ** **_  
_ ** **_music. I wondered if he was still inside the farmhouse, getting chewed out by Mr. D._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Grover won't get in too much trouble, will he?" I asked Chiron. "I mean ... he was a good protector._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Really."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Chiron sighed. He shed his tweed jacket and draped it over his horses back like a saddle. "Grover has big_ ** **_  
_ ** **_dreams, Percy. Perhaps bigger than are reasonable._ **

 

“Perhaps but he accomplished his goal,” Percy says smiling and making Grover blush a bit and smile.

  
  


**_To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate great_ ** **_  
_ ** **_courage by succeeding as a keeper, finding a new camper and bringing him safely to Half-Blood Hill."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"But he did that!"_ **

 

“In fact he helped 4 demigods reach the camp safely. Don't argue with me Grover, you got me to camp it was my choice to fight that monster,” Thalia says preventing Grover from arguing.

**_  
_ ** **_"I might agree with you," Chiron said. "But it is not my place to judge. Dionysus and the Council of_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Cloven Elders must decide. I'm afraid they might not see this assignment as a success. After all, Grover_ ** **_  
_ ** **_lost you in New York. Then there's the unfortunate ... ah ... fate of your mother. And the fact that Grover_ ** **_  
_ ** **_was unconscious when you dragged him over the property line. The council might question whether this_ ** **_  
_ ** **_shows any courage on Grover's part."_ **

 

“That was not his fault,” Percy states firmly.

**_  
_ ** **_I wanted to protest. None of what happened was Grover's fault. I also felt really, really guilty. If I hadn't_ ** **_  
_ ** **_given Grover the slip at the bus station, he might not have gotten in trouble._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"He'll get a second chance, won't he?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Chiron winced. "I'm afraid that was Grover's second chance, Percy. The council was not anxious to give_ ** **_  
_ ** **_him another, either, after what happened the first time, five years ago._ **

  
  


“Stupid council,” Thalia mutters.

 

**_Olympus knows, I advised him to_ ** **_  
_ ** **_wait longer before trying again. He's still so small for his age... ."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"How old is he?" "Oh, twenty-eight."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"What! And he's in sixth grade?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Satyrs mature half as fast as humans, Percy. Grover has been the equivalent of a middle school student_ ** **_  
_ ** **_for the past six years."_ **

 

“I feel sorry for you Grover, having to repay sixth grade for who knows how long,” Leo says shaking his head and looking horrified.

 

**_  
_ ** **_"That's horrible."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Quite," Chiron agreed. "At any rate, Grover is a late bloomer, even by satyr standards, and not yet very_ ** **_  
_ ** **_accomplished at woodland magic. Alas, he was anxious to pursue his dream. Perhaps now he will find_ ** **_  
_ ** **_some other career... ."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"That's not fair," I said. "What happened the first time? Was it really so bad?"_ **

 

“I got turned into a tree. Grover got like and annabeth to safety,” Thalia replies confusing the Roman demigods.

**_  
_ ** **_Chiron looked away quickly. "Let's move along, shall we?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_But I wasn't quite ready to let the subject drop. Something had occurred to me when Chiron talked_ ** **_  
_ ** **_about my mother's fate, as if he were intentionally avoiding the word death. The beginnings of an idea-a_ ** **_  
_ ** **_tiny, hopeful fire-started forming in my mind._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Chiron," I said. "If the gods and Olympus and all that are real ..."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Yes, child?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Does that mean the Underworld is real, too?" Chiron's expression darkened._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Yes, child." He paused, as if choosing his words carefully. "There is a place where spirits go after death._ ** **_  
_ ** **_But for now ... until we know more ... I would urge you to put that out of your mind."_ **

 

“Demigods have gone and have not made it back, what makes you think that you can?” Reyna asks Percy raising an eyebrow.

 

Percy simply shrugs and smiles confusing Reyna.

 

**_  
_ ** **_"What do you mean, 'until we know more'?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Come, Percy. Let's see the woods."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_As we got closer, I realized how huge the forest was. It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees_ ** **_  
_ ** **_so tall and thick, you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Chiron said, "The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Stocked with what?" I asked. "Armed with what?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You'll see. Capture the flag is Friday night. Do you have your own sword and shield?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"My own-?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"No," Chiron said. "I don't suppose you do. I think a size five will do. I'll visit the armory later."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I wanted to ask what kind of summer camp had an armory, but there was too much else to think about,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_so the tour continued. We saw the archery range, the canoeing lake, the stables (which Chiron didn't_ ** **_  
_ ** **_seem to like very much), the javelin range, the sing-along amphitheater, and the arena where Chiron_ ** **_  
_ ** **_said they held sword and spear fights. "Sword and spear fights?" I asked._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Cabin challenges and all that," he explained. "Not lethal. Usually. Oh, yes, and there's the mess hall."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Chiron pointed to an outdoor pavilion framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea._ ** **_  
_ ** **_There were a dozen stone picnic tables. No roof. No walls._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"What do you do when it rains?" I asked._ **

 

“Every new demigod asks that question,” Grover says chuckling.

 

**_  
_ ** **_Chiron looked at me as if I'd gone a little weird. "We still have to eat, don't we?" I decided to drop the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_subject._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Finally, he showed me the cabins. There were twelve of them, nestled in the woods by the lake. They_ ** **_  
_ ** **_were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. And they were without_ ** **_  
_ ** **_doubt the most bizarre collection of buildings I'd ever seen._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Except for the fact that each had a large brass number above the door (odds on the left side, evens on_ ** **_  
_ ** **_the right), they looked absolutely nothing alike. Number nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass. Seven seemed to be_ ** **_  
_ ** **_made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at. They all_ ** **_  
_ ** **_faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower_ ** **_  
_ ** **_beds, and a couple of basketball hoops (which were more my speed)._ ** **_  
_ ** **_In the center of the field was a huge stone-lined fire pit. Even though it was a warm afternoon, the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_hearth smoldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick._ **

 

“you noticed me?” Hestia asks surprised.

 

“yes, I'm sorry I didn't stop to say hello,” Percy says smiling.

 

“it's fine, you noticed me and that's more than enough,” Hestia replies smiling.

 

**_  
_ ** **_The pair of cabins at the head of the field, numbers one and two, looked like his-and-hers mausoleums,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front. Cabin one was the biggest and bulkiest of the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_twelve. Its polished bronze doors shimmered like a hologram, so that from different angles lightning_ ** **_  
_ ** **_bolts seemed to streak across them. Cabin two was more graceful somehow, with slimmer columns_ ** **_  
_ ** **_garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The walls were carved with images of peacocks. "Zeus and Hera?" I guessed._ **

 

“unfortunately my husband's cabin did not remain empty,” Hera says glaring at zeus.

**_  
_ ** **_"Correct," Chiron said._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Their cabins look empty."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Several of the cabins are. That's true. No one ever stays in one or two."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Okay. So each cabin had a different god, like a mascot. Twelve cabins for the twelve Olympians._ **

 

“You're still not grasping that you're a demigod?” Annabeth asks and percy simply shrugs.

 

**_But why_ ** **_  
_ ** **_would some be empty?_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I stopped in front of the first cabin on the left, cabin three._ ** **_  
_ ** **_It wasn't high and mighty like cabin one, but long and low and solid. The outer walls were of rough gray_ ** **_  
_ ** **_stone studded with pieces of seashell and coral, as if the slabs had been hewn straight from the bottom_ ** **_  
_ ** **_of the ocean floor. I peeked inside the open doorway_ **

  
  


“of course you would, I guess you felt drawn to it even if you didn't yet know that Poseidon was your father,” Annabeth says.

 

**_and Chiron said, "Oh, I wouldn't do that!"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Before he could pull me back, I caught the salty scent of the interior, like the wind on the shore at_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Montauk. The interior walls glowed like abalone. There were six empty bunk beds with silk sheets_ ** **_  
_ ** **_turned down. But there was no sign anyone had ever slept there. The place felt so sad and lonely, I was_ ** **_  
_ ** **_glad when Chiron put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Come along, Percy."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Most of the other cabins were crowded with campers._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Number five was bright red-a real nasty paint job, as if the color had been splashed on with buckets and_ ** **_  
_ ** **_fists. The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boar's head hung over the doorway, and its_ ** **_  
_ ** **_eyes seemed to follow me. Inside I could see a bunch of mean-looking kids, both girls and boys, arm_ ** **_  
_ ** **_wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared. The loudest was a girl maybe thirteen or fourteen. She wore a size XXXL CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirt under a camouflage jacket. She zeroed in on_ ** **_  
_ ** **_me and gave me an evil sneer. She reminded me of Nancy Bobofit, though the camper girl was much_ ** **_  
_ ** **_bigger and tougher looking, and her hair was long and stringy, and brown instead of red._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I kept walking, trying to stay clear of Chiron's hooves. "We haven't seen any other centaurs," I observed._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"No," said Chiron sadly. "My kinsmen are a wild and barbaric folk, I'm afraid. You might encounter them_ ** **_  
_ ** **_in the wilderness, or at major sporting events. But you won't see any here."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You said your name was Chiron. Are you really ..."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_He smiled down at me. "The Chiron from the stories? Trainer of Hercules and all that? Yes, Percy, I am."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"But, shouldn't you be dead?"_ **

 

“That was blunt,”Nico tells an ashamed looking percy. 

 

**_  
_ ** **_Chiron paused, as if the question intrigued him. "I honestly don't know about should be. The truth is, I_ ** **_  
_ ** **_can't be dead. You see, eons ago the gods granted my wish. I could continue the work I loved. I could be_ ** **_  
_ ** **_a teacher of heroes as long as humanity needed me. I gained much from that wish ... and I gave up_ ** **_  
_ ** **_much. But I'm still here, so I can only assume I'm still needed."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I thought about being a teacher for three thousand years. It wouldn't have made my Top Ten Things to_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Wish For list._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Doesn't it ever get boring?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"No, no," he said. "Horribly depressing, at times, but never boring."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Why depressing?" Chiron seemed to turn hard of hearing again._ **

 

“I would get depressed if I had to see students die,” Thalia says frowning.

**_  
_ ** **_"Oh, look," he said. "Annabeth is waiting for us."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_* * *_ ** **_  
_ ** **_The blond girl I'd met at the Big House was reading a book in front of the last cabin on the left, number_ ** **_  
_ ** **_eleven._ **

 

“You knew my name by then and you were still calling me the blond girl?” Annabeth asks Percy shrugs.

**_  
_ ** **_When we reached her, she looked me over critically, like she was still thinking about how much I_ ** **_  
_ ** **_drooled._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I tried to see what she was reading, but I couldn't make out the title. I thought my dyslexia was acting_ ** **_  
_ ** **_up. Then I realized the title wasn't even English. The letters looked Greek to me. I mean, literally Greek._ ** **_  
_ ** **_There were pictures of temples and statues and different kinds of columns, like those in an architecture_ ** **_  
_ ** **_book._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Annabeth," Chiron said, "I have masters' archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Yes, sir."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Cabin eleven," Chiron told me, gesturing toward the doorway. "Make yourself at home."_ **

  
  


“You all really need it stop being ignorant and selfish and claim your children!” Hermes scold the gods. some of them glare at him and other slimy look ashamed.

**_  
_ ** **_Out of all the cabins, eleven looked the most like a regular old summer camp cabin, with the emphasis_ ** **_  
_ ** **_on old. The threshold was worn down, the brown paint peeling. Over the doorway was one of those doctor's symbols, a winged pole with two snakes wrapped around it. What did they call it... ? A_ ** **_  
_ ** **_caduceus._ **

 

“Actually the symbol of healing used to be a caduceus with only one snake, representing Asclepius is the god of Healing. Over time however they associated it with two snakes,” Athena says a small lecture which was actually pretty interesting. 

**_  
_ ** **_Inside, it was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Sleeping bags were spread all over on the floor. It looked like a gym where the Red Cross had set up an_ ** **_  
_ ** **_evacuation center._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Chiron didn't go in. The door was too low for him. But when the campers saw him they all stood and_ ** **_  
_ ** **_bowed respectfully._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Well, then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_He galloped away toward the archery range._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I stood in the doorway, looking at the kids. They weren't bowing anymore. They were staring at me,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_sizing me up. I knew this routine. I'd gone through it at enough schools._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Well?" Annabeth prompted. "Go on."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_So naturally I tripped coming in the door and made a total fool of myself._ **

 

This made mostly everyone snicker or laugh. 

 

**_There were some snickers_ ** **_  
_ ** **_from the campers, but none of them said anything._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Annabeth announced, "Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I didn't know what to say, but Annabeth said, "Undetermined." Everybody groaned._ ** **_  
_ ** **_A guy who was a little older than the rest came forward. "Now, now, campers. That's what we're here_ ** **_  
_ ** **_for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_The guy was about nineteen, and he looked pretty cool. He was tall and muscular, with short-cropped_ ** **_  
_ ** **_sandy hair and a friendly smile. He wore an orange tank top, cutoffs, sandals, and a leather necklace_ ** **_  
_ ** **_with five different-colored clay beads. The only thing unsettling about his appearance was a thick white_ ** **_  
_ ** **_scar that ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw, like an old knife slash_ **

 

“Luke,” Annabeth mutters frowning.

 

“he sounds like a cold dude,” Leo says not hearing annabeth. 

 

“he was,” Percy replies confusing leo.

 

**_  
_ ** **_"This is Luke," Annabeth said, and her voice sounded different somehow. I glanced over and could've_ ** **_  
_ ** **_sworn she was blushing. She saw me looking, and her expression hardened again. "He's your counselor_ ** **_  
_ ** **_for now."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"For now?" I asked._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You're undetermined," Luke explained patiently. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're_ ** **_  
_ ** **_here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god_ ** **_  
_ ** **_of travelers."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I looked at the tiny section of floor they'd given me. I had nothing to put there to mark it as my own, no_ ** **_  
_ ** **_luggage, no clothes, no sleeping bag. Just the Minotaur's horn. I thought about setting that down, but_ ** **_  
_ ** **_then I remembered that Hermes was also the god of thieves._ **

 

Hermes smiled brightly and had a mischievous look.

 

**_  
_ ** **_I looked around at the campers' faces, some sullen and suspicious, some grinning stupidly, some eyeing_ ** **_  
_ ** **_me as if they were waiting for a chance to pick my pockets._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"How long will I be here?" I asked._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Good question," Luke said. "Until you're determined." "How long will that take?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_The campers all laughed._ **

 

“it was valid questions,” Percy mutters.

**_  
_ ** **_"Come on," Annabeth told me. "I'll show you the volleyball court."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I've already seen it."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Come on." She grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside. I could hear the kids of cabin eleven_ ** **_  
_ ** **_laughing behind me._ ** **_  
_ ** **_When we were a few feet away, Annabeth said, "Jackson, you have to do better than that."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"What?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "I can't believe I thought you were the one."_ **

 

“The one you're going to marry,” Thalia teases making both percy and annabeth blush and stutter.

**_  
_ ** **_"What's your problem?" I was getting angry now. "All I know is, I kill some bull guy-"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Don't talk like that!" Annabeth told me. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your_ ** **_  
_ ** **_chance?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"To get killed?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?"_ **

 

“You train to survive not to go out and look for danger, I was so naive back then,” Annabeth says sighing.

 

**_I shook my head. "Look, if the thing I fought really was the Minotaur, the same one in the stories ..."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Yes."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Then there's only one."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Yes."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"And he died, like, a gajillion years ago, right? Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So ..."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Monsters don't die, Percy. They can be killed. But they don't die."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Oh, thanks. That clears it up."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"They don't have souls, like you and me. You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole_ ** **_  
_ ** **_lifetime if you're lucky. But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them archetypes. Eventually, they re-_ ** **_  
_ ** **_form."_ **

 

“Which is annoying,” Percy mutters.

**_  
_ ** **_I thought about Mrs. Dodds. "You mean if I killed one, accidentally, with a sword-"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"The Fur ... I mean, your math teacher. That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very_ ** **_  
_ ** **_mad."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You talk in your sleep." "You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Annabeth glanced nervously at the ground, as if she expected it to open up and swallow her. "You_ ** **_  
_ ** **_shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at_ ** **_  
_ ** **_all."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Look, is there anything we can say without it thundering?" I sounded whiny, even to myself, but right_ ** **_  
_ ** **_then I didn't care._ **

 

“nope not really,” Annabeth replies.

 

**_"Why do I have to stay in cabin eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded_ ** **_  
_ ** **_together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I pointed to the first few cabins, and Annabeth turned pale. "You don't just choose a cabin, Percy. It_ ** **_  
_ ** **_depends on who your parents are. Or ... your parent."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_She stared at me, waiting for me to get it._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"My mom is Sally Jackson," I said. "She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least, she_ ** **_  
_ ** **_used to."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I'm sorry about your mom, Percy. But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about your other parent. Your_ ** **_  
_ ** **_dad."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"He's dead. I never knew him."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Annabeth sighed. Clearly, she'd had this conversation before with other kids. "Your father's not dead,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Percy."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"How can you say that? You know him?" "No, of course not."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Then how can you say-"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Because I know you. You wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You don't know anything about me."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"No?" She raised an eyebrow. "I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out_ ** **_  
_ ** **_of a lot of them."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"How-"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I tried to swallow my embarrassment. "What does that have to do with anything?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Taken together, it's almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right? That's_ ** **_  
_ ** **_because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek. And the ADHD-you're impulsive, can't sit still in the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_classroom. That's your battle-field reflexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive. As for the attention_ ** **_  
_ ** **_problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular_ ** **_  
_ ** **_mortal's. Of course the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don't want you_ ** **_  
_ ** **_seeing them for what they are."_ **

 

“I should have some of my children be teachers than, to help the demigods,” Apollo mutters and starts planning in his head.

 

**_  
_ ** **_"You sound like ... you went through the same thing?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Most of the kids here did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't have survived the Minotaur, much less the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_ambrosia and nectar." "Ambrosia and nectar."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"The food and drink we were giving you to make you better. That stuff would've killed a normal kid. It_ ** **_  
_ ** **_would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead. Face it. You're a half-_ ** **_  
_ ** **_blood."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_A half-blood._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I was reeling with so many questions I didn't know where to start._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Then a husky voice yelled, "Well! A newbie!"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I looked over. The big girl from the ugly red cabin was sauntering toward us. She had three other girls_ ** **_  
_ ** **_behind her, all big and ugly and mean looking like her, all wearing camo jackets._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Clarisse," Annabeth sighed. "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Sure, Miss Princess," the big girl said. "So I can run you through with it Friday night."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_''Erre es korakas!" Annabeth said, which I somehow understood was Greek for 'Go to the crows!'_ ** **_  
_ ** **_though I had a feeling it was a worse curse than it sounded. "You don't stand a chance."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"We'll pulverize you," Clarisse said, but her eye twitched. Perhaps she wasn't sure she could follow_ ** **_  
_ ** **_through on the threat. She turned toward me. "Who's this little runt?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Percy Jackson," Annabeth said, "meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares." I blinked. "Like ... the war god?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Clarisse sneered. "You got a problem with that?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"No," I said, recovering my wits. "It explains the bad smell."_ **

 

“good one percy,” Leo says laughing. 

**_  
_ ** **_Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Percy."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Clarisse-" Annabeth tried to say._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Stay out of it, wise girl."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Annabeth looked pained, but she did stay out of it, and I didn't really want her help. I was the new kid. I_ ** **_  
_ ** **_had to earn my own rep._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I handed Annabeth my minotaur horn and got ready to fight, but before I knew it, Clarisse had me by the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_neck and was dragging me toward a cinder-block building that I knew immediately was the bathroom._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I was kicking and punching. I'd been in plenty of fights before, but this big girl Clarisse had hands like_ ** **_  
_ ** **_iron. She dragged me into the girls' bathroom. There was a line of toilets on one side and a line of_ ** **_  
_ ** **_shower stalls down the other. It smelled just like any public bathroom, and I was thinking-as much as I_ ** **_  
_ ** **_could think with Clarisse ripping my hair out-that if this place belonged to the gods, they should've been_ ** **_  
_ ** **_able to afford classier johns._ **

 

This got a lot of people laughing and nodding in agreement.

 

**_Clarisse's friends were all laughing, and I was trying to find the strength I'd used to fight the Minotaur,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_but it just wasn't there._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Like he's 'Big Three' material," Clarisse said as she pushed me toward one of the toilets. "Yeah, right._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid looking."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Her friends snickered._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Annabeth stood in the corner, watching through her fingers._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Clarisse bent me over on my knees and started pushing my head toward the toilet bowl. It reeked like_ ** **_  
_ ** **_rusted pipes and, well, like what goes into toilets. I strained to keep my head up. I was looking at the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_scummy water, thinking, I will not go into that. I won't._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Then something happened. I felt a tug in the pit of my stomach. I heard the plumbing rumble, the pipes_ ** **_  
_ ** **_shudder. Clarisse's grip on my hair loosened. Water shot out of the toilet, making an arc straight over my_ ** **_  
_ ** **_head, and the next thing I knew, I was sprawled on the bathroom tiles with Clarisse screaming behind_ ** **_  
_ ** **_me._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I turned just as water blasted out of the toilet again, hitting Clarisse straight in the face so hard it_ ** **_  
_ ** **_pushed her down onto her butt. The water stayed on her like the spray from a fire hose, pushing her_ ** **_  
_ ** **_backward into a shower stall._ ** **_  
_ ** **_She struggled, gasping, and her friends started coming toward her. But then the other toilets exploded,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_too, and six more streams of toilet water blasted them back. The showers acted up, too, and together_ ** **_  
_ ** **_all the fixtures sprayed the camouflage girls right out of the bathroom, spinning them around like pieces_ ** **_  
_ ** **_of garbage being washed away._ ** **_  
_ ** **_As soon as they were out the door, I felt the tug in my gut lessen, and the water shut off as quickly as it_ ** **_  
_ ** **_had started._ **

  
  


“that was amazing!” Leo exclaims clapping along with a few others.

 

Jason and Reyna simply looked at percy wearily.

  
  


**_The entire bathroom was flooded. Annabeth hadn't been spared. She was dripping wet, but she hadn't_ ** **_  
_ ** **_been pushed out the door. She was standing in exactly the same place, staring at me in shock._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I looked down and realized I was sitting in the only dry spot in the whole room. There was a circle of dry_ ** **_  
_ ** **_floor around me. I didn't have one drop of water on my clothes. Nothing._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I stood up, my legs shaky._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Annabeth said, "How did you ..."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I don't know."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_We walked to the door. Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawled in the mud, and a bunch of_ ** **_  
_ ** **_other campers had gathered around to gawk. Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her_ ** **_  
_ ** **_camouflage jacket was shopping and she smelled like sewage. She gave me a look of absolute hatred._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I probably should have let it go, but I said, "You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close_ ** **_  
_ ** **_your mouth."_ **

 

This got mostly everyone laughing.

**_  
_ ** **_Her friends had to hold her back. They dragged her toward cabin five, while the other campers made_ ** **_  
_ ** **_way to avoid her flailing feet._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Annabeth stared at me. I couldn't tell whether she was just grossed out or angry at me for dousing her._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"What?" I demanded. "What are you thinking?" "I'm thinking," she said, "that I want you on my team for capture the flag."_ **

  
  


“and thus began a beautiful relationship- ahem friendship,” Tha lis says.

 

Annabeth glares at her but not very well due to her being bright red.

 

“That's the end of the chapter,” Jason says.

 


	8. Smokey dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was written kind of in a rush due to me being a bit busy these days so I'm sorry for any grammar errors it may have. Happy Valentine's day everyone!!!

“I'll read next,” Frank says shrugging and grabbing the book when Jason hands it to him. 

 

“after this chapter can we eat?” Leo asks his stomach rumbling. 

 

Athena nods, “yeah I don't see any reason why we shouldn't.”

 

**_7 MY DINNER GOES_ ** **_  
_ ** **_UP IN SMOKE_ **

 

“these chapters have the weirdest names,” Piper mutters. 

**_  
_ ** **_Word of the bathroom incident spread immediately. Wherever I went, campers pointed at me and_ ** **_  
_ ** **_murmured something about toilet water. Or maybe they were just staring at Annabeth, who was still_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_pretty much dripping wet._

 

“Sorry about that Annabeth,” Percy says chuckling a bit. Annabeth glares at him for a minute before shaking her head amused.

**_  
_ ** **_She showed me a few more places: the metal shop (where kids were forging their own swords), the arts-_ ** **_  
_ ** **_and-crafts room (where satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of a goat-man), and the climbing_ ** **_  
_ ** **_wall, which actually consisted of two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders, sprayed lava,_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_and clashed together if you didn't get to the top fast enough._

 

“That sounds like fun,” Leo says smiling. 

 

“It is a bit,” Percy replies.

**_  
_ ** **_Finally we returned to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I've got training to do," Annabeth said flatly. "Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_mess hall." "Annabeth, I'm sorry about the toilets."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Whatever."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"It wasn't my fault."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_She looked at me skeptically, and I realized it was my fault. I'd made water shoot out of the bathroom_ ** **_  
_ ** **_fixtures. I didn't understand how. But the toilets had responded to me. I had become one with the_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_plumbing._

 

“All hail Percy lord of the toilets,” Leo said. He jokingly bowed to Percy. 

 

In response, Percy jokingly said, “

**_  
_ ** **_"You need to talk to the Oracle," Annabeth said._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Who?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Not who. What. The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_I stared into the lake, wishing somebody would give me a straight answer for once._

 

“We do tend to give cryptic answers don't we?” Annabeth asks looking a bit amused. 

**_  
_ ** **_I wasn't expecting anybody to be looking back at me from the bottom, so my heart skipped a beat when_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I noticed two teenage girls sitting cross-legged at the base of the pier, about twenty feet below. They_ ** **_  
_ ** **_wore blue jeans and shimmering green T-shirts, and their brown hair floated loose around their_ ** **_  
_ ** **_shoulders as minnows darted in and out. They smiled and waved as if I were a long-lost friend._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_I didn't know what else to do. I waved back._

 

“That is the nice and friendly thing to do,” Hestia says smiling.

**_  
_ ** **_"Don't encourage them," Annabeth warned. "Naiads are terrible flirts." "Naiads," I repeated, feeling completely overwhelmed. "That's it. I want to go home now."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Annabeth frowned. "Don't you get it, Percy? You are home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_like us."_

 

“Apparently that wasn't true,” Annabeth says looking at the Roman's while the Romans look at them. It's tense for a minute before Frank continues reading.

**_  
_ ** **_"You mean, mentally disturbed kids?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I mean not human. Not totally human, anyway. Half-human."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Half-human and half-what?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I think you know."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I didn't want to admit it, but I was afraid I did. I felt a tingling in my limbs, a sensation I sometimes felt_ ** **_  
_ ** **_when my mom talked about my dad._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"God," I said. "Half-god."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_Annabeth nodded. "Your father isn't dead, Percy. He's one of the Olympians."_

 

“dun dun,” Leo says dramatically making some people laugh. 

 

**_  
_ ** **_"That's ... crazy."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Is it? What's the most common thing gods did in the old stories? They ran around falling in love with_ ** **_  
_ ** **_humans and having kids with them. Do you think they've changed their habits in the last few millennia?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"But those are just-" I almost said myths again. Then I remembered Chiron's warning that in two_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_thousand years, I might be considered a myth. "But if all the kids here are half-gods-"_

**_"Demigods," Annabeth said. "That's the official term. Or half-bloods."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Then who's your dad?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Her hands tightened around the pier railing. I got the feeling I'd just trespassed on a sensitive subject._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"My dad is a professor at West Point," she said. "I haven't seen him since I was very small. He teaches_ ** **_  
_ ** **_American history."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"He's human."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"What? You assume it has to be a male god who finds a human female attractive? How sexist is that?"_

 

“Sorry about that Annabeth,” Percy says looking sheepish.

 

“it's okay I overreacted,” She replies smiling slightly.

**_  
_ ** **_"Who's your mom, then?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Cabin six."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Meaning?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Annabeth straightened. "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Okay, I thought. Why not?_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"And my dad?"_

**_"Undetermined," Annabeth said, "like I told you before. Nobody knows."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Except my mother. She knew."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Maybe not, Percy. Gods don't always reveal their identities."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"My dad would have. He loved her."_

 

“She is a queen among woman,” Poseidon says quietly. Aphrodite hears him and silently begins fangirling. 

**_  
_ ** **_Annabeth gave me a cautious look. She didn't want to burst my bubble. "Maybe you're right. Maybe_ ** **_  
_ ** **_he'll send a sign. That's the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as_ ** **_  
_ ** **_his son. Sometimes it happens._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You mean sometimes it doesn't?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Annabeth ran her palm along the rail. "The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and they don't always_ ** **_  
_ ** **_... Well, sometimes they don't care about us, Percy. They ignore us."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I thought about some of the kids I'd seen in the Hermes cabin, teenagers who looked sullen and_ ** **_  
_ ** **_depressed, as if they were waiting for a call that would never come. I'd known kids like that at Yancy_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Academy, shuffled off to boarding school by rich parents who didn't have the time to deal with them._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_But gods should behave better._

 

“Yes they really should,” Hestia says glaring at the gods who ignored their children.

 

“I know I'm childish and immature and whatever else you can come up with, but at least I claim my children and let them know that I do care for them,” Apollo says clenching his fists when he described what the other gods thought of him and at the gods who ignored their children.

  
  


Artemis looks worriedly at apollo, she had never seen him like this. The other gods looked a bit sheepish.

**_  
_ ** **_"So I'm stuck here," I said. "That's it? For the rest of my life?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"It depends," Annabeth said. "Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Demeter, you're probably not a real powerful force. The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year._

 

“I take that back now, children of any God can be really powerful,” Annabeth states firmly believing this.

 

“It is not the parent who decides how powerful someone is. They decide them themselves by how much effort they put into their practice and growth,” Reyna add agreeing with Annabeth's statement. 

 

**_But for some of_ ** **_  
_ ** **_us, it's too dangerous to leave. We're year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They_ ** **_  
_ ** **_sense us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_trouble-about ten or eleven years old, but after that, most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off._

 

“This is why we should be allowed to have contact with our children. Do you know how hard it is to see a child of yours die when you so clearly could've done something to help!?” Hermes yells at Zeus looking angry and hurt shining in his eyes. 

 

“YES I DO HERMES!!” Zeus Shouted looking briefly at Thalia.

 

“then why don't you change the laws?” Hermes asks tensely.

 

“Because….” Zeus trails off not having answer and Hermes nods sharply turning back to face the shocked looking demigods.

 

Hermes tensely asks frank to continue reading. 

 

**_A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I told you_ ** **_  
_ ** **_the names, you'd know them. Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very few are like_ ** **_  
_ ** **_that."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"So monsters can't get in here?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Annabeth shook her head. "Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially_ ** **_  
_ ** **_summoned by somebody on the inside."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Why would anybody want to summon a monster?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Practice fights. Practical jokes."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Practical jokes?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"The point is, the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm."_

 

“Interesting,” Piper says curious.

**_  
_ ** **_"So ... you're a year-rounder?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Annabeth nodded. From under the collar of her T-shirt she pulled a leather necklace with five clay beads_ ** **_  
_ ** **_of different colors. It was just like Luke's, except Annabeth's also had a big gold ring strung on it, like a_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_college ring._

 

On instance, Annabeth's hand goes to the ring on her necklace.

**_  
_ ** **_"I've been here since I was seven," she said. "Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a_ ** **_  
_ ** **_bead for surviving another year. I've been here longer than most of the counselors, and they're all in_ ** **_  
_ ** **_college."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Why did you come so young?" She twisted the ring on her necklace. "None of your business."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Oh." I stood there for a minute in uncomfortable silence. "So ... I could just walk out of here right now if_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I wanted to?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr. D's or Chiron's permission. But they wouldn't give_ ** **_  
_ ** **_permission until the end of the summer session unless ..."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Unless?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens. The last time ..."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_Her voice trailed off. I could tell from her tone that the last time hadn't gone well._

 

“No it had not,” Annabeth says tensely and no one dares ask why.

**_  
_ ** **_"Back in the sick room," I said, "when you were feeding me that stuff-"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Ambrosia."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Yeah. You asked me something about the summer solstice."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Annabeth's shoulders tensed. "So you do know something?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Well... no. Back at my old school, I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it. Grover mentioned the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_summer solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_that mean?"_

**_She clenched her fists. "I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won't tell me._ **

 

“Now i know that it was to protect me. I was prideful back then wasn't I,” Annabeth asks smiling sheepishly. 

 

“Just a bit,” Percy replied smiling and shrugging.

**_  
_ ** **_Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything seemed so_ ** **_  
_ ** **_normal."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You've been to Olympus?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Some of us year-rounders-Luke and Clarisse and I and a few others-we took a field trip during winter_ ** **_  
_ ** **_solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"But... how did you get there?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator_ ** **_  
_ ** **_to the six hundredth floor." She looked at me like she was sure I must know this already. "You are a New_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Yorker, right?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Oh, sure." As far as I knew, there were only a hundred and two floors in the Empire State Building, but I_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_decided not to point that out._

 

“Sorry I thought that you had watched the orientation video,” Annabeth tell Percy who simply shrugs and smiles.

**_  
_ ** **_"Right after we visited," Annabeth continued, "the weather got weird, as if the gods had started fighting._ ** **_  
_ ** **_A couple of times since, I've overheard satyrs talking. The best I can figure out is that something_ ** **_  
_ ** **_important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by summer solstice, there's going to be trouble. When you_ ** **_  
_ ** **_came, I was hoping ... I mean- Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares. And of_ ** **_  
_ ** **_course she's got the rivalry with Poseidon. But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work_ ** **_  
_ ** **_together. I thought you might know something."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I shook my head. I wished I could help her, but I felt too hungry and tired and mentally overloaded to_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_ask any more questions._

 

“That's how the first few days always are,” Nico  says.

**_  
_ ** **_"I've got to get a quest," Annabeth muttered to herself. "I'm not too young. If they would just tell me_ ** **_  
_ ** **_the problem ..." I could smell barbecue smoke coming from somewhere nearby. Annabeth must've heard my stomach_ ** **_  
_ ** **_growl. She told me to go on, she'd catch me later. I left her on the pier, trac-ing her finger across the rail_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_as if drawing a battle plan._

 

Annabeth looked surprised that percy had noticed. 

**_  
_ ** **_Back at cabin eleven, everybody was talking and horsing around, waiting for dinner. For the first time, I_ ** **_  
_ ** **_noticed that a lot of the campers had similar features: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, mischievous_ ** **_  
_ ** **_smiles. They were the kind of kids that teachers would peg as troublemakers. Thankfully, nobody paid_ ** **_  
_ ** **_much attention to me as I walked over to my spot on the floor and plopped down with my minotaur_ ** **_  
_ ** **_horn._ ** **_  
_ ** **_The counselor, Luke, came over. He had the Hermes family resemblance, too. It was marred by that scar_ ** **_  
_ ** **_on his right cheek, but his smile was intact._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Found you a sleeping bag," he said. "And here, I stole you some toiletries from the camp store."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I couldn't tell if he was kidding about the stealing part._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I said, "Thanks."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"No prob." Luke sat next to me, pushed his back against the wall. "Tough first day?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I don't belong here," I said. "I don't even believe in gods."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Yeah," he said. "That's how we all started. Once you start believing in them? It doesn't get any easier."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_The bitterness in his voice surprised me, because Luke seemed like a pretty easy going guy. He looked_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_like he could handle just about anything._

  
  


“I wonder when it all went wrong,” Annabeth says quietly and clenching her hands into fists.

 

**_  
_ ** **_"So your dad is Hermes?" I asked. He pulled a switchblade out of his back pocket, and for a second I thought he was going to gut me, but_ ** **_  
_ ** **_he just scraped the mud off the sole of his sandal. "Yeah. Hermes."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"The wing-footed messenger guy."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"That's him. Messengers. Medicine. Travelers, mer-chants, thieves. Anybody who uses the roads. That's_ ** **_  
_ ** **_why you're here, enjoying cabin eleven's hospitality. Hermes isn't picky about who he sponsors."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I figured Luke didn't mean to call me a nobody. He just had a lot on his mind._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You ever meet your dad?" I asked._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Once."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I waited, thinking that if he wanted to tell me, he'd tell me. Apparently, he didn't. I wondered if the story_ ** **_  
_ ** **_had anything to do with how he got his scar._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Luke looked up and managed a smile. "Don't worry about it, Percy. The campers here, they're mostly_ ** **_  
_ ** **_good people. After all, we're extended family, right? We take care of each other."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_He seemed to understand how lost I felt, and I was grateful for that, because an older guy like him-even_ ** **_  
_ ** **_if he was a counselor-should've steered clear of an uncool middle-schooler like me. But Luke had_ ** **_  
_ ** **_welcomed me into the cabin. He'd even stolen me some toiletries, which was the nicest thing anybody_ ** **_  
_ ** **_had done for me all day._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I decided to ask him my last big question, the one that had been bothering me all afternoon. "Clarisse,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_from Ares, was joking about me being 'Big Three' material. Then Annabeth ... twice, she said I might be_ ** **_  
_ ** **_'the one.' She said I should talk to the Oracle. What was that all about?" Luke folded his knife. "I hate prophecies."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"What do you mean?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_His face twitched around the scar. "Let's just say I messed things up for everybody else. The last two_ ** **_  
_ ** **_years, ever since my trip to the Garden of the Hesperides went sour, Chiron hasn't allowed any more_ ** **_  
_ ** **_quests. Annabeth's been dying to get out into the world. She pestered Chiron so much he finally told her_ ** **_  
_ ** **_he already knew her fate. He'd had a prophecy from the Oracle. He wouldn't tell her the whole thing,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_but he said Annabeth wasn't destined to go on a quest yet. She had to wait until... somebody special_ ** **_  
_ ** **_came to the camp."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Somebody special?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Don't worry about it, kid," Luke said. "Annabeth wants to think every new camper who comes through_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_here is the omen she's been waiting for. Now, come on, it's dinnertime."_

 

“Prophecy? What is going on?” Reyna asks quietly.

 

**_  
_ ** **_The moment he said it, a horn blew in the distance. Somehow, I knew it was a conch shell, even though_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I'd never heard one before._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Luke yelled, "Eleven, fall in!"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_The whole cabin, about twenty of us, filed into the commons yard. We lined up in order of seniority, so_ ** **_  
_ ** **_of course I was dead last. Campers came from the other cabins, too, except for the three empty cabins_ ** **_  
_ ** **_at the end, and cabin eight, which had looked normal in the daytime, but was now starting to glow silver_ ** **_  
_ ** **_as the sun went down._ ** **_  
_ ** **_We marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion. Satyrs joined us from the meadow. Naiads emerged_ ** **_  
_ ** **_from the canoeing lake. A few other girls came out of the woods- and when I say out of the woods, I_ ** **_  
_ ** **_mean straight out of the woods. I saw one girl, about nine or ten years old, melt from the side of a_ ** **_  
_ ** **_maple tree and come skipping up the hill.  In all, there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs_ ** **_  
_ ** **_and naiads._ ** **_  
_ ** **_At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_tables were empty, but cabin eleven's was way overcrowded. I had to squeeze on to the edge of a bench_ ** **_  
_ ** **_with half my butt hanging off._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I saw Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D, a few satyrs, and a couple of plump blond boys who_ ** **_  
_ ** **_looked just like Mr. D. Chiron stood to one side, the picnic table being way too small for a centaur._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Annabeth sat at table six with a bunch of serious-looking athletic kids, all with her gray eyes and honey-_ ** **_  
_ ** **_blond hair._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Clarisse sat behind me at Ares's table. She'd apparently gotten over being hosed down, because she was_ ** **_  
_ ** **_laughing and belching right alongside her friends._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He_ ** **_  
_ ** **_raised a glass. "To the gods!"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Everybody else raised their glasses. "To the gods!"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_and yes, barbecue! My glass was empty, but Luke said, "Speak to it. Whatever you want-nonalcoholic, of_ ** **_  
_ ** **_course."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I said, "Cherry Coke." The glass filled with sparkling caramel liquid._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Then I had an idea. "Blue Cherry Coke."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_The soda turned a violent shade of cobalt._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I took a cautious sip. Perfect._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I drank a toast to my mother._ ** **_  
_ ** **_She's not gone, I told myself. Not permanently, anyway. She's in the Underworld. And if that's a real_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_place, then someday…_

 

“What makes you think you can survive the underworld?” Reyna asks Percy raising an eyebrow. Percy simply shrugs.

**_  
_ ** **_"Here you go, Percy," Luke said, handing me a platter of smoked brisket._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I loaded my plate and was about to take a big bite when I noticed everybody getting up, carrying their_ ** **_  
_ ** **_plates toward the fire in the center of the pavilion. I wondered if they were going for dessert or_ ** **_  
_ ** **_something._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Come on," Luke told me._ ** **_  
_ ** **_As I got closer, I saw that everyone was taking a portion of their meal and dropping it into the fire, the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_ripest straw-berry, the juiciest slice of beef, the warmest, most buttery roll._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Luke murmured in my ear, "Burnt offerings for the gods. They like the smell."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You're kidding." His look warned me not to take this lightly, but I couldn't help wondering why an immortal, all-powerful_ ** **_  
_ ** **_being would like the smell of burning food._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Luke approached the fire, bowed his head, and tossed in a cluster of fat red grapes. "Hermes."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I was next._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I wished I knew what god's name to say._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Finally, I made a silent plea. Whoever you are, tell me. Please._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I scraped a big slice of brisket into the flames._ ** **_  
_ ** **_When I caught a whiff of the smoke, I didn't gag._ ** **_  
_ ** **_It smelled nothing like burning food. It smelled of hot chocolate and fresh-baked brownies, hamburgers_ ** **_  
_ ** **_on the grill and wildflowers, and a hundred other good things that shouldn't have gone well together,_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_but did. I could almost believe the gods could live off that smoke._

 

“we don't but offerings give us a bit more power,” Hestia replies still tending to the hearth.

**_  
_ ** **_When everybody had returned to their seats and finished eating their meals, Chiron pounded his hoof_ ** **_  
_ ** **_again for our attention._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Mr. D got up with a huge sigh. "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our_ ** **_  
_ ** **_activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_A bunch of ugly cheering rose from the Ares table. "Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we_ ** **_  
_ ** **_have a new camper today. Peter Johnson."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Chiron murmured something._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Er, Percy Jackson," Mr. D corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly_ ** **_  
_ ** **_campfire. Go on."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Everybody cheered. We all headed down toward the amphitheater, where Apollo's cabin led a sing-_ ** **_  
_ ** **_along. We sang camp songs about the gods and ate s'mores and joked around, and the funny thing was,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I didn't feel that anyone was staring at me anymore. I felt that I was home._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Later in the evening, when the sparks from the campfire were curling into a starry sky, the conch horn_ ** **_  
_ ** **_blew again, and we all filed back to our cabins. I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I collapsed on_ ** **_  
_ ** **_my borrowed sleeping bag._ ** **_  
_ ** **_My fingers curled around the Minotaur's horn. I thought about my mom, but I had good thoughts: her_ ** **_  
_ ** **_smile, the bedtime stories she would read me when I was a kid, the way she would tell me not to let the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_bedbugs bite._ ** **_  
_ ** **_When I closed my eyes, I fell asleep instantly._ ** **_  
_ ** **_That was my first day at Camp Half-Blood._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_I wish I'd known how briefly I would get to enjoy my new home._

  
  


“Great why can't you ever enjoy a week without problems?” Leo asks sighing.

 

“that's the end if the chapter,” Frank says.

  
  



	9. We get a flag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's taken me so long to update.

The demigods and gods finally stopped reading in order to have lunch. Apollo kept acting weirdly, as if he had seen an unpleasant future, but when asked he would just shrug it off and smile. Artemis was starting to worry about her brother, what is it that could've made him this serious and that made him want everyone to read these books. The other gods were also curious but they were each busy figuring out their own things. Athena was still working on planning out how to help demigods so that didn't struggle so much in school. 

 

Lunch for the demigods went pretty normal, there was your usual jokes and teases. They each converse with each other, well they tried to the Romans didn't seem to want to interact with the Greeks. However, after a bit they gave in and started speaking a bit. 

 

After everyone was done eating, they want back to their normal seats and the book, which had somehow disappeared,  reappeared in Reyna's lap. She frowns for a bit before sighing and flipping to the chapter they were on. She waits for everyone to quiet down and then begins reading. 

  
  


**_8 WE CAPTURE_ ** **_  
_ ** **_A FLAG_ **

**_  
_ ** **_The next few days I settled into a routine that felt almost normal, if you don't count the fact that I was getting lessons from satyrs, nymphs, and a centaur._ **

 

“Normal everyday life for a demigod,” Thalia says shrugging. 

**_  
_ ** **_Each morning I took Ancient Greek from Annabeth, and we talked about the gods and goddesses in the present tense, which was kind of weird. I discovered Annabeth was right about my dyslexia: Ancient_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_Greek wasn't that hard for me to read. At least, no harder than English. After a couple of mornings, I could stumble through a few lines of Homer without too much headache._

 

“We really should figure out a way for our kids to not have dyslexia. It could greatly increase their performance in school,” Athena moses, jotting down ideas on a notebook. 

**_  
_ ** **_The rest of the day, I'd rotate through outdoor activities, looking for something I was good at. Chiron tried to teach me archery, but we found out pretty quick I wasn't any good with a bow and arrow. He_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_didn't complain, even when he had to desnag a stray arrow out of his tail._

 

“Remind me to give you archery lessons,” Apollo tells Pergy looking amused.

**_  
_ ** **_Foot racing? No good either. The wood-nymph instructors left me in the dust. They told me not to worry about it. They'd had centuries of practice running away from lovesick gods. But still, it was a little_ ** **_  
_ ** **_humiliating to be slower than a tree._ ** **_  
_ ** **_And wrestling? Forget it. Every time I got on the mat, Clarisse would pulverize me._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"There's more where that came from, punk," she'd mumble in my ear. The only thing I really excelled at was canoeing, and that wasn't the kind of heroic skill people expected to see from the kid who had beaten the Minotaur._

 

“Yeah you didn't seem so heroic then,” Annabeth says looking amused. 

**_  
_ ** **_I knew the senior campers and counselors were watching me, trying to decide who my dad was, but they weren't having an easy time of it. I wasn't as strong as the Ares kids, or as good at archery as the Apollo kids. I didn't have Hephaestus's skill with metal work or-gods forbid- Dionysus's way with vine plants. Luke told me I might be a child of Hermes, a kind of jack-of-all-trades, master of none._ **

 

“I would've been glad to have you as my child. You're a natural born trouble maker,” Hermes says smiling in mischief.

 

**_But I got the feeling he was just trying to make me feel better. He really didn't know what to make of me either. Despite all that, I liked camp. I got used to the morning fog over the beach, the smell of hot strawberry_ ** **_  
_ ** **_fields in the afternoon, even the weird noises of monsters in the woods at night. I would eat dinner with cabin eleven, scrape part of my meal into the fire, and try to feel some connection to my real dad._ **

 

“I'm sorry I didn't claim you earlier percy,” Poseidon says sighing sadly. He deeply regrets not having claimed percy earlier, perhaps if he had then percy would've had more time to practice his powers.

 

“It's fine dad I don't blame you,” Percy says smiling and standing up. He walks over to his dad, who shrinks down in size, and hugs him. 

 

“Thank you son,” Poseidon tells him. He then goes back to God sizes and and percy goes back to his seat. 

 

**_  
_ ** **_Nothing came. Just that warm feeling I'd always had, like the memory of his smile. I tried not to think too much about my mom, but I kept wondering: if gods and monsters were real, if all this magical stuff was possible, surely there was some way to save her, to bring her back...._ **

 

“Everyone always wishes there's a way to bring the dead back,” Hades mutters filling out some paperwork.

**_  
_ ** **_I started to understand Luke's bitterness and how he seemed to resent his father, Hermes. So okay, maybe gods had important things to do. But couldn't they call once in a while, or thunder, or something? Dionysus could make Diet Coke appear out of thin air. Why couldn't my dad, who-ever he was, make a phone appear?_ **

 

We try to help our children as much as possible, without breaking the ancient laws,” Poseidon says frowning. He along with many of the other gods wished they could do more to help their children.

 

“Some day that rule is going to be our downfall,” Apollo mutters sketching out something. Artemis wonders what her brother is sketching, and what he meant by his comment. 

**_  
_ ** **_Thursday afternoon, three days after I'd arrived at Camp Half-Blood, I had my first sword-fighting lesson. Every-body from cabin eleven gathered in the big circular arena, where Luke would be our instructor._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_We started with basic stabbing and slashing, using some straw-stuffed dummies in Greek armor. I guess I did okay. At least, I understood what I was supposed to do and my reflexes were good._

 

“You did well for being new to camp,” Grover tells Percy.

**_  
_ ** **_The problem was, I couldn't find a blade that felt right in my hands. Either they were too heavy, or too light, or too long. Luke tried his best to fix me up, but he agreed that none of the practice blades seemed_ ** **_  
_ ** **_to work for me. We moved on to dueling in pairs. Luke announced he would be my partner, since this was my first time._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Good luck," one of the campers told me. "Luke's the best swordsman in the last three hundred years."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"Maybe he'll go easy on me," I said._

 

“Luke never went easy on anyone,” Annabeth says looking amused.

**_  
_ ** **_The camper snorted. Luke showed me thrusts and parries and shield blocks the hard way. With every swipe, I got a little more battered and bruised. "Keep your guard up, Percy," he'd say, then whap me in the ribs with the flat of his blade. "No, not that far up!" Whap! "Lunge!" Whap! "Now, back!" Whap!By the time he called a break, I was soaked in sweat. Everybody swarmed the drinks cooler. Luke poured_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_ice water on his head, which looked like such a good idea, I did the same._

 

“Does that count as cheating?” Grover asks curiously.

 

“Hmm, I think since he wasn't yet aware of his powers,  that he it doesn't count as cheating,” Annabeth replies.

**_  
_ ** **_Instantly, I felt better. Strength surged back into my arms. The sword didn't feel so awkward. "Okay, everybody circle up!" Luke ordered. "If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo." Great, I thought. Let's all watch Percy get pounded. The Hermes guys gathered around. They were suppressing smiles. I figured they'd been in my shoes before and couldn't wait to see how Luke used me for a punching bag. He told everybody he was going to demonstrate a disarming technique: how to twist the enemy's blade with the flat of your own sword so that he had no choice but to drop his weapon._ **

 

“A very helpful maneuver to learn,” Annabeth says.

**_  
_ ** **_"This is difficult," he stressed. "I've had it used against me. No laughing at Percy, now. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique." He demonstrated the move on me in slow motion. Sure enough, the sword clattered out of my hand. "Now in real time," he said, after I'd retrieved my weapon. "We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off. Ready, Percy?" I nodded, and Luke came after me. Somehow, I kept him from getting a shot at the hilt of my sword. My senses opened up. I saw his attacks coming. I countered. I stepped forward and tried a thrust of my own. Luke deflected it easily, but I saw a change in his face. His eyes narrowed, and he started to press me_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_with more force.The sword grew heavy in my hand. The balance wasn't right. I knew it was only a matter of seconds before Luke took me down, so I figured, What the heck?_

 

“Me everytime I do something crazy,” Leo says smiling brightly. 

**_  
_ ** **_I tried the disarming maneuver._ ** **_  
_ ** **_My blade hit the base of Luke's and I twisted, putting my whole weight into a downward thrust. Clang._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Luke's sword rattled against the stones. The tip of my blade was an inch from his undefended chest. The other campers were silent. I lowered my sword. "Um, sorry."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_For a moment, Luke was too stunned to speak. "Sorry?" His scarred face broke into a grin. "By the gods, Percy, why are you sorry? Show me that again!" I didn't want to. The short burst of manic energy had completely abandoned me. But Luke insisted. This time, there was no contest. The moment our swords connected, Luke hit my hilt and sent my weapon skidding across the floor. After a long pause, somebody in the audience said, "Beginner's luck?"_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_Luke wiped the sweat off his brow. He appraised at me with an entirely new interest. "Maybe," he said. "But I wonder what Percy could do with a balanced sword... ."_

 

“He becomes a demon,” Griver states in a no arguments voice. This of course makes Percy try and deny it, for which he gets told he's being too modest.

 

_ Perhaps, not all Male are bad  _ Artemis thinks silently looking at Percy..

**_  
_ ** **_Friday afternoon, I was sitting with Grover at the lake, resting from a near-death experience on the climbing wall. Grover had scampered to the top like a mountain goat, but the lava had almost gotten_ ** **_  
_ ** **_me. My shirt had smoking holes in it. The hairs had been signed off my forearms._ ** **_  
_ ** **_We sat on the pier, watching the naiads do underwater basket-weaving, until I got up the nerve to ask Grover how his conversation had gone with Mr. D._ ** **_  
_ ** **_His face turned a sickly shade of yellow._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Fine," he said. "Just great."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"So your career's still on track?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_He glanced at me nervously. "Chiron t-told you I want a searcher's license?" "Well... no." I had no idea what a searcher's license was, but it didn't seem like the right time to ask. "He just said you had big plans, you know ... and that you needed credit for completing a keeper's assignment. So did you get it?"Grover looked down at the naiads. "Mr. D suspended judgment. He said I hadn't failed or succeeded with you yet, so our fates were still tied together. If you got a quest and I went along to protect you, and_ ** **_  
_ ** **_we both came back alive, then maybe he'd consider the job complete."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_My spirits lifted. "Well, that's not so bad, right?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Blaa-ha-ha! He might as well have transferred me to stable-cleaning duty. The chances of you getting a_ ** **_  
_ ** **_quest... and even if you did, why would you want me along?"_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"Of course I'd want you along!"_

 

“Yeah you're my best friend grover,” Percy says smiling and hugging Grover. 

**_  
_ ** **_Grover stared glumly into the water. "Basket-weaving ... Must be nice to have a useful skill." I tried to reassure him that he had lots of talents, but that just made him look more miserable. We talked about canoeing and swordplay for a while, then debated the pros and cons of the different gods. Finally, I asked him about the four empty cabins."Number eight, the silver one, belongs to Artemis," he said. "She vowed to be a maiden forever. So of course, no kids. The cabin is, you know, honorary. If she didn't have one, she'd be mad."_ **

 

“That and she uses it for when the hunters visit camo,” Annabeth says. This confuses the Romans who don't know who the hunters are. 

**_  
_ ** **_"Yeah, okay. But the other three, the ones at the end. Are those the Big Three?"_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_Grover tensed. We were getting close to a touchy subject. "No. One of them, number two, is Hera's," he said. "That's another honorary thing. She's the goddess of marriage, so of course she wouldn't go around having affairs with mortals. That's her husband's job._

 

Hera glared at Zeus who sunk down in his seat and refused to look at Hera. 

 

**_When we say the Big Three, we mean the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_three powerful brothers, the sons of Kronos."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Zeus, Poseidon, Hades."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Right. You know. After the great battle with the Titans, they took over the world from their dad and drew lots to decide who got what."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Zeus got the sky," I remembered. "Poseidon the sea, Hades the Underworld."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Uh-huh."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"But Hades doesn't have a cabin here."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"No. He doesn't have a throne on Olympus, either. He sort of does his own thing down in the Underworld. If he did have a cabin here ..." Grover shuddered. "Well, it wouldn't be pleasant. Let's leave it at that."_

 

“I am offended,” Nico jokes crossing and arms and fake pouting. Grover simply shrugs and looks amused. 

**_  
_ ** **_"But Zeus and Poseidon-they both had, like, a bazillion kids in the myths. Why are their cabins empty?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Grover shifted his hooves uncomfortably. "About sixty years ago, after World War II, the Big Three agreed they wouldn't sire any more heroes. Their children were just too powerful. They were affecting_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_the course of human events too much, causing too much carnage. World War II, you know, that was basically a fight between the sons of Zeus and Poseidon on one side, and the sons of Hades on the other._

 

“I'm thankful that you haven't started a war Nico,” Hades mutters. 

**_  
_ ** **_The winning side, Zeus and Poseidon, made Hades swear an oath with them: no more affairs with mortal women. They all swore on the River Styx."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Thunder boomed. I said, "That's the most serious oath you can make."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Grover nodded._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"And the brothers kept their word-no kids?"_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_Grover's face darkened. "Seventeen years ago, Zeus fell off the wagon. There was this TV starlet with a big fluffy eighties hairdo-he just couldn't help himself. When their child was born, a little girl named Thalia .. . well, the River Styx is serious about promises. Zeus himself got off easy because he's immortal, but he brought a terrible fate on his daughter."_

 

Thalia frowns as she remembers what happened that day. Grover just looks really guilty. 

**_  
_ ** **_"But that isn't fair.' It wasn't the little girl's fault."_ **

 

“No it most definitely isn't fair that the demigods should have to pay for your mistakes,” Hestia tells Zeus glaring at him. 

**_  
_ ** **_Grover hesitated. "Percy, children of the Big Three have powers greater than other half-bloods. They have a strong aura, a scent that attracts monsters. When Hades found out about the girl, he wasn't too_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_happy about Zeus breaking his oath. Hades let the worst monsters out of Tartarus to torment Thalia._

 

“I am sorry to have done that to you. At the time I was too angry that Zeus had, had children. I wanted him to know what it felt like to lose them,” Hades says glaring at Zeus. 

 

Thalis looks shocked and simply nods. 

 

**_A satyr was assigned to be her keeper when she was twelve, but there was nothing he could do. He tried to escort her here with a couple of other half-bloods she'd befriended. They almost made it. They got all the way to the top of that hill."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_He pointed across the valley, to the pine tree where I'd fought the minotaur. "All three Kindly Ones were after them, along with a horde of hellhounds. They were about to be overrun when Thalia told her satyr to take the other two half-bloods to safety while she held off the monsters. She was wounded and tired, and she didn't want to live like a hunted animal._ **

 

“No one wants that fight, but it's the fate of a demigod,” Thalia says clenching her hands into fists. 

 

**_The satyr didn't want to leave her, but he couldn't change her mind, and he had to protect the others. So Thalia made her final stand alone, at the top of that hill. As she died, Zeus took pity on her. He turned her into that pine tree. Her spirit still helps_ ** **_  
_ ** **_protect the borders of the valley. That's why the hill is called Half-Blood Hill."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_I stared at the pine in the distance. The story made me feel hollow, and guilty too._

 

“You need to stop feeling guilty for things that are out of your control seaweed brain,” Annabeth tells him. 

 

**_A girl my age had sacrificed herself to save her friends. She had faced a whole army of monsters. Next to that, my victory over the Minotaur didn't seem like much. I wondered, if I'd acted differently, could I have saved my mother?_ **

 

“It's not good to beat yourself over things out of your control kelp head,” Thalia says. 

**_  
_ ** **_"Grover," I said, "have heroes really gone on quests to the Underworld?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Sometimes," he said. "Orpheus. Hercules. Houdini."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"And have they ever returned somebody from the dead?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"No. Never. Orpheus came close... . Percy, you're not seriously thinking-"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"No," I lied. "I was just wondering. So ... a satyr is always assigned to guard a demigod?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Grover studied me warily. I hadn't persuaded him that I'd really dropped the Underworld idea. "Not always. We go undercover to a lot of schools. We try to sniff out the half-bloods who have the makings_ ** **_  
_ ** **_of great heroes. If we find one with a very strong aura, like a child of the Big Three, we alert Chiron. He tries to keep an eye on them, since they could cause really huge problems."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"And you found me. Chiron said you thought I might be something special."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Grover looked as if I'd just led him into a trap. "I didn't... Oh, listen, don't think like that. If you were-you know-you'd never ever be allowed a quest, and I'd never get my license. You're probably a child of_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Hermes. Or maybe even one of the minor gods, like Nemesis, the god of revenge. Don't worry, okay?"_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_I got the idea he was reassuring himself more than me._

 

“I brought a terrible fate upon you son,” Poseidon mutters softly, so that no one hears. 

**_  
_ ** **_That night after dinner, there was a lot more excitement than usual. At last, it was time for capture the flag._ ** **_  
_ ** **_When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and we all stood at our tables._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk_ ** **_  
_ ** **_banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree._ ** **_  
_ ** **_From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical_ ** **_  
_ ** **_size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I turned to Luke and yelled over the noise, "Those are the flags?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Yeah."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Ares and Athena always lead the teams?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Not always," he said. "But often."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"So, if another cabin captures one, what do you do- repaint the flag?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_He grinned. "You'll see. First we have to get one."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Whose side are we on?"_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_He gave me a sly look, as if he knew something I didn't. The scar on his face made him look almost evil in the torchlight. "We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And you are going to help."_

 

“Yes by getting pulverized by Clarisse,” Percy mutters. 

  
  


**_The teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins. Apparently, privileges had been traded-shower times, chore schedules, the best slots for_ ** **_  
_ ** **_activities-in order to win support._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. From what I'd seen, Dionysus's kids were actually good athletes, but there were only two of them. Demeter's_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_kids had the edge with nature skills and outdoor stuff but they weren't very aggressive._

 

“Trust me her children can be aggressive when they want to be,” Apollo says looking amused.

 

**_Aphrodite's sons and daughters I wasn't too worried about. They mostly sat out every activity and checked their reflections in the lake and did their hair and gossiped._ **

 

“Don't underestimate my kids demigod,” Aphrodite tells percy looking briefly at piper. 

 

**_Hephaestus's kids weren't pretty, and there were only four of them, but they were big and burly from working in the metal shop all day. They might be a problem. That, of course, left Ares's cabin: a dozen of the biggest, ugliest, meanest kids on Long Island, or anywhere else on the planet._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, oxhide shields coated in metal._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Whoa," I said. "We're really supposed to use these?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Luke looked at me as if I were crazy. "Unless you want to get skewered by your friends in cabin five._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Here-Chiron thought these would fit. You'll be on border patrol."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_My shield was the size of an NBA backboard, with a big caduceus in the middle. It weighed about a million pounds. I could have snowboarded on it fine, but I hoped nobody seriously expected me to run fast. My helmet, like all the helmets on Athena's side, had a blue horsehair plume on top. Ares and their allies had red plumes._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Annabeth yelled, "Blue team, forward!"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_We cheered and shook our swords and followed her down the path to the south woods. The red team yelled taunts at us as they headed off toward the north. I managed to catch up with Annabeth without tripping over my equipment. "Hey."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_She kept marching._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"So what's the plan?" I asked. "Got any magic items you can loan me?"_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_Her hand drifted toward her pocket, as if she were afraid I'd stolen something._

 

“Very observant,” Annabeth mutters. 

**_  
_ ** **_"Just watch Clarisse's spear," she said. "You don't want that thing touching you. Otherwise, don't worry._ ** **_  
_ ** **_We'll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you your job?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Border patrol, whatever that means."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"It's easy. Stand by the creek, keep the reds away. Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_She pushed ahead, leaving me in the dust._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Okay," I mumbled. "Glad you wanted me on your team." It was a warm, sticky night. The woods were dark, with fireflies popping in and out of view. Annabeth stationed me next to a little creek that gurgled over some rocks, then she and the rest of the team_ ** **_  
_ ** **_scattered into the trees._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Standing there alone, with my big blue-feathered helmet and my huge shield, I felt like an idiot. The bronze sword, like all the swords I'd tried so far, seemed balanced wrong. The leather grip pulled on my_ ** **_  
_ ** **_hand like a bowling ball. There was no way anybody would actually attack me, would they? I mean, Olympus had to have liability_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_issues, right?_

 

“Either way it sounds like a fun game,” Leo says smiling goofily. 

**_  
_ ** **_Far away, the conch horn blew. I heard whoops and yells in the woods, the clanking of metal, kids fighting. A blue-plumed ally from Apollo raced past me like a deer, leaped through the creek, and_ ** **_  
_ ** **_disappeared into enemy territory._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Great, I thought. I'll miss all the fun, as usual._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Then I heard a sound that sent a chill up my spine, a low canine growl, somewhere close by._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I raised my shield instinctively; I had the feeling something was stalking me._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_Then the growling stopped. I felt the presence retreat-ing._

 

“This doesn't seem good,” Piper mutters. 

**_  
_ ** **_On the other side of the creek, the underbrush exploded. Five Ares warriors came yelling and screaming_ ** **_  
_ ** **_out of the dark._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Cream the punk!" Clarisse screamed. Her ugly pig eyes glared through the slits of her helmet. She brandished a five-foot-long spear, its barbed metal tip flickering with red light. Her siblings had only the standard-issue bronze swords-not_ ** **_  
_ ** **_that that made me feel any better._ ** **_  
_ ** **_They charged across the stream. There was no help in sight. I could run. Or I could defend myself against half the Ares cabin._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I managed to sidestep the first kid's swing, but these guys were not as stupid the Minotaur. They surrounded me, and Clarisse thrust at me with her spear. My shield deflected the point, but I felt a_ ** **_  
_ ** **_painful tingling all over my body. My hair stood on end. My shield arm went numb, and the air burned._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Electricity. Her stupid spear was electric. I fell back._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Another Ares guy slammed me in the chest with the butt of his sword and I hit the dirt._ ** **_  
_ ** **_They could've knocked me into jelly, but they were too busy laughing._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Give him a haircut," Clarisse said. "Grab his hair."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I managed to get to my feet. I raised my sword, but Clarisse slammed it aside with her spear as sparks_ ** **_  
_ ** **_flew. Now both my arms felt numb._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Oh, wow," Clarisse said. "I'm scared of this guy. Really scared."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"The flag is that way," I told her. I wanted to sound angry, but I was afraid it didn't come out that way._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Yeah," one of her siblings said. "But see, we don't care about the flag. We care about a guy who made_ ** **_  
_ ** **_our cabin look stupid." "You do that without my help," I told them. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to say._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Two of them came at me. I backed up toward the creek, tried to raise my shield, but Clarisse was too_ ** **_  
_ ** **_fast. Her spear stuck me straight in the ribs. If I hadn't been wearing an armored breastplate, I would've_ ** **_  
_ ** **_been shish-ke-babbed. As it was, the electric point just about shocked my teeth out of my mouth. One_ ** **_  
_ ** **_of her cabinmates slashed his sword across my arm, leaving a good-size cut._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Seeing my own blood made me dizzy-warm and cold at the same time._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"No maiming," I managed to say._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"Oops," the guy said. "Guess I lost my dessert privilege._

 

“Chiron really ought to give harsher punishments,” Hestia mutters frowning. 

**_  
_ ** **_He pushed me into the creek and I landed with a splash. They all laughed. I figured as soon as they were through being amused, I would die. But then something happened. The water seemed to wake up my_ ** **_  
_ ** **_senses, as if I'd just had a bag of my mom's double-espresso jelly beans._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_Clarisse and her cabin mates came into the creek to get me, but I stood to meet them. I knew what to do._

 

“KICKASS PERCY MODE!!” Thalia and Nico yell smiling crazily and making percy look amused. 

 

**_I swung the flat of my sword against the first guy's head and knocked his helmet clean off. I hit him so hard I could see his eyes vibrating as he crumpled into the water._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Ugly Number Two and Ugly Number Three came at me. I slammed one in the face with my shield and used my sword to shear off the other guy's horsehair plume. Both of them backed up quick. Ugly Number Four didn't look really anxious to attack, but Clarisse kept coming, the point of her spear_ ** **_  
_ ** **_crackling with energy. As soon as she thrust, I caught the shaft between the edge of my shield and my sword, and I snapped it like a twig._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Ah!" she screamed. "You idiot! You corpse-breath worm!" She probably would've said worse, but I smacked her between the eyes with my sword-butt and sent her stumbling backward out of the creek._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Then I heard yelling, elated screams, and I saw Luke racing toward the boundary line with the red team's_ ** **_  
_ ** **_banner lifted high. He was flanked by a couple of Hermes guys covering his retreat, and a few Apollos_ ** **_  
_ ** **_behind them, fighting off the Hephaestus kids. The Ares folks got up, and Clarisse muttered a dazed curse._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"A trick!" she shouted. "It was a trick."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_They staggered after Luke, but it was too late. Everybody converged on the creek as Luke ran across into friendly territory. Our side exploded into cheers. The red banner shimmered and turned to silver. The_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven._

 

“Athena always has a plan,” Percy repeats Annabeth's line smiling and bumping shoulders with her. 

 

**_Everybody on the blue_ ** **_  
_ ** **_team picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron can-tered out from the woods and blew the conch horn._ ** **_  
_ ** **_The game was over. We'd won._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I was about to join the celebration when Annabeth's voice, right next to me in the creek, said, "Not bad, hero."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I looked, but she wasn't there._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Where the heck did you learn to fight like that?" she asked. The air shimmered, and she materialized, holding a Yankees baseball cap as if she'd just taken it off her head._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I felt myself getting angry. I wasn't even fazed by the fact that she'd just been invisible. "You set me up,"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I said. "You put me here because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Luke around the flank. You had it all figured out." Annabeth shrugged. "I told you. Athena always, always has a plan."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"A plan to get me pulverized."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I came as fast as I could. I was about to jump in, but ..." She shrugged. "You didn't need help."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Then she noticed my wounded arm. "How did you do that?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Sword cut," I said. "What do you think?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"No. It was a sword cut. Look at it."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_The blood was gone. Where the huge cut had been, there was a long white scratch, and even that was fading._

 

“I wonder, can you heal others like that or only yourself?” Reyna asks percy curious.

 

“I've never tried to heal others with it it,” Percy replies looking shocked, he should've thought if that. 

 

**_As I watched, it turned into a small scar, and disappeared._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I-I don't get it," I said._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Annabeth was thinking hard. I could almost see the gears turning. She looked down at my feet, then at_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Clarisse's broken spear, and said, "Step out of the water, Percy."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"What-"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Just do it."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_I came out of the creek and immediately felt bone tired. My arms started to go numb again. My adrenaline rush left me. I almost fell over, but Annabeth steadied me._

 

“Not a word,” Annabeth tells thalia and Nico who put. 

 

**_"Oh, Styx," she cursed. "This is not good. I didn't want ... I assumed it would be Zeus... ."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Before I could ask what she meant, I heard that canine growl again, but much closer than before. A howl ripped through the forest._ ** **_  
_ ** **_The campers' cheering died instantly. Chiron shouted something in Ancient Greek, which I would realize, only later, I had understood perfectly: "Stand ready! My bow!"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Annabeth drew her sword._ ** **_  
_ ** **_There on the rocks just above us was a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava-red eyes and fangs like daggers._ ** **_  
_ ** **_It was looking straight at me._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Nobody moved except Annabeth, who yelled, "Percy, run!"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_She tried to step in front of me, but the hound was too fast. It leaped over her-an enormous shadow_ ** **_  
_ ** **_with teeth-and just as it hit me, as I stumbled backward and felt its razor-sharp claws ripping through my armor, there was a cascade of thwacking sounds, like forty pieces of paper being ripped one after the_ ** **_  
_ ** **_other. From the hounds neck sprouted a cluster of arrows. The monster fell dead at my feet._ ** **_  
_ ** **_By some miracle, I was still alive. I didn't want to look underneath the ruins of my shredded armor. My_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_chest felt warm and wet, and I knew I was badly cut._

 

Poseidon looked percy over, to reassure himself that he was fine. 

 

**_Another second, and the monster would've turned me into a hundred pounds of delicatessen meat._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Chiron trotted up next to us, a bow in his hand, his face grim. "Di immortales!" Annabeth said. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't ... they're not supposed to ..."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Someone summoned it," Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Luke came over, the banner in his hand forgotten, his moment of glory gone._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Clarisse yelled, "It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Be quiet, child," Chiron told her._ ** **_  
_ ** **_We watched the body of the hellhound melt into shadow, soaking into the ground until it disappeared._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You're wounded," Annabeth told me. "Quick, Percy, get in the water."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I'm okay."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"No, you're not," she said. "Chiron, watch this."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I was too tired to argue. I stepped back into the creek, the whole camp gathering around me.Instantly, I felt better. I could feel the cuts on my chest closing up. Some of the campers gasped._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Look, I-I don't know why," I said, trying to apologize. "I'm sorry...."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_But they weren't watching my wounds heal. They were staring at something above my head. "Percy," Annabeth said, pointing. "Um ..."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_By the time I looked up, the sign was already fading, but I could still make out the hologram of green_ ** **_  
_ ** **_light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Your father," Annabeth murmured. "This is really not good."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"It is determined," Chiron announced._ ** **_  
_ ** **_All around me, campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, though they didn't look happy about it._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"My father?" I asked, completely bewildered._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_Sea God."_

 

“That introduction makes you sound cool and intimidating uncle,” Apollo tells Poseidon looking amused. 

 

“That's the end of the chapter,” Reyna says looking relieved to not have to read anymore. 

 


	10. Chapter 10: Let's go on a quest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello my lovely readers. I'm so sorry that it took me so long to write and upload this chapter. At first it was a cade of writer's block. Later though, my sister got sick and is in the hospital now. Hopefully she cna come home soon. So yeah ive been pretty busy. I'm sorry it's taken me so long. Anyways wirhou further adu, here's the next chapter.

“I will read next,” Athena days. No one argues and Reyna hands her the book

 ** _9 I AM OFFERED_**  
**_A QUEST_**  
**_The next morning, Chiron moved me to cabin three._**  
**_I didn't have to share with anybody. I had plenty of room for all my stuff: the Minotaur's horn, one set of_**  
**_spare clothes, and a toiletry bag. I got to sit at my own dinner table, pick all my own activities, call "lights_**  
**_out" whenever I felt like it, and not listen to anybody else._**  
**_And I was absolutely miserable._**

“Damn that does sound really lonely. Definitely having sleepovers in your cabin,” Leo says. Percy just chuckles and nods agreeing with it.

**_Just when I'd started to feel accepted, to feel I had a home in cabin eleven and I might be a normal kid- or as normal as you can be when you're a half-blood-I'd been separated out as if I had some rare disease._ **

“People can switch opinions so quickly,” Reyna says shaking her head.

 ** _Nobody mentioned the hellhound, but I got the feeling they were all talking about it behind my back. The attack had scared everybody. It sent two messages: one, that I was the son of the Sea God; and two,_**  
**_monsters would stop at nothing to kill me. They could even invade a camp that had always been considered safe._**

“No someone summoned it inside the camp,” Annabeth mutters. She doesn't mention who this someone is.

 ** _The other campers steered clear of me as much as possible. Cabin eleven was too nervous to have sword class with me after what I'd done to the Ares folks in the woods, so my lessons with Luke became_**  
**_one-on-one. He pushed me harder than ever, and wasn't afraid to bruise me up in the process._**

“I don't know if he was testing me to see if I could be a great ally to Kronos or if he honestly wanted me to get better,” Percy mutters. Sure Luke had died a hero but some of his actions could now be looked at differently.

 ** _"You're going to need all the training you can get," he promised, as we were working with swords and flaming torches. "Now let's try that viper-beheading strike again. Fifty more repetitions."_**  
**_Annabeth still taught me Greek in the mornings, but she seemed distracted. Every time I said something, she scowled at me, as if I'd just poked her between the eyes. After lessons, she would walk away muttering to herself: "Quest ... Poseidon? ... Dirty rotten ... Got to make a plan ..."_**

“You can't judge someone based on their parent,” Thalia says sighing.

“I know that now,” Annabeth replies.

 ** _Even Clarisse kept her distance, though her venomous looks made it clear she wanted to kill me for breaking her magic spear. I wished she would just yell or punch me or something. I'd rather get into fights every day than be ignored. I knew somebody at camp resented me, because one night I came into my cabin and found a mortal_**  
**_newspaper dropped inside the doorway, a copy of the New York Daily News, opened to the Metro page._**  
**_The article took me almost an hour to read, because the angrier I got, the more the words floated_**  
**_around on the page._**  
**_BOY AND MOTHER STILL MISSING AFTER_**  
**_FREAK CAR ACCIDENT_**  
**_BY EILEEN SMYTHE_**  
**_Sally Jackson and son Percy are still missing one week after their mysterious disappearance. The family's_**  
**_badly burned '78 Camaro was discovered last Saturday on a north Long Island road with the roof ripped_**  
**_off and the front axle broken. The car had flipped and skidded for several hundred feet before_**  
**_exploding._**  
**_Mother and son had gone for a weekend vacation to Montauk, but left hastily, under mysterious_**  
**_circumstances. Small traces of blood were found in the car and near the scene of the wreck, but there_**  
**_were no other signs of the missing Jacksons. Residents in the rural area reported seeing nothing unusual_**  
**_around the time of the accident._**  
**_Ms. Jackson's husband, Gabe Ugliano, claims that his stepson, Percy Jackson, is a troubled child who has_**  
**_been kicked out of numerous boarding schools and has expressed violent tendencies in the past. Police would not say whether son Percy is a suspect in his mother's disappearance, but they have not_**  
**_ruled out foul play. Below are recent pictures of Sally Jackson and Percy. Police urge anyone with_**  
**_information to call the following toll-free crime-stoppers hotline._**  
**_The phone number was circled in black marker._**

“Whoever did that is a dick,” Leo says glaring at the book.

 ** _I wadded up the paper and threw it away, then flopped down in my bunk bed in the middle of my empty_**  
**_cabin."Lights out," I told myself miserably._**  
**_That night, I had my worst dream yet._**

“My dreams are the worst,” Percy mutters. Honestly can he have a normal dream one day.

 ** _I was running along the beach in a storm. This time, there was a city behind me. Not New York. The sprawl was different: buildings spread farther apart, palm trees and low hills in the distance._**  
**_About a hundred yards down the surf, two men were fighting. They looked like TV wrestlers, muscular, with beards and long hair. Both wore flowing Greek tunics, one trimmed in blue, the other in green._**  
**_They grappled with each other, wrestled, kicked and head-butted, and every time they connected, lightning flashed, the sky grew darker, and the wind rose._**  
**_I had to stop them. I didn't know why. But the harder I ran, the more the wind blew me back, until I was_**  
**_running in place, my heels digging uselessly in the sand._**  
**_Over the roar of the storm, I could hear the blue-robed one yelling at the green-robed one, Give it back!_**  
**_Give it back! Like a kindergartner fighting over a toy._**

“That accurately describes them,” Hestia says shaking her head. The Olympians really did act like little children.

 ** _The waves got bigger, crashing into the beach, spraying me with salt. I yelled, Stop it! Stop fighting! The ground shook. Laughter came from somewhere under the earth, and a voice so deep and evil it turned my blood to ice._**  
**_Come down, little hero, the voice crooned. Come down!_**  
**_The sand split beneath me, opening up a crevice straight down to the center of the earth. My feet slipped, and darkness swallowed me._**

“If I didn't know any better, at first I would've said it was Hades,” Poseidon says frowning.

“I can't blame you considering that you don't think Kronos when you think of the underworld,” Hades says shrugging.

 ** _I woke up, sure I was falling._**  
**_I was still in bed in cabin three. My body told me it was morning, but it was dark outside, and thunder rolled across the hills. A storm was brewing. I hadn't dreamed that._**  
**_I heard a clopping sound at the door, a hoof knocking on the threshold._**  
**_"Come in?"_**  
**_Grover trotted inside, looking worried. "Mr. D wants to see you."_**  
**_"Why?"_**  
**_"He wants to kill... I mean, I'd better let him tell you."_**

'If you had killed my son I would've started a war with you,” Poseidon says glaring at Dionysus.

Dionysus simply shrugs and ignores Poseidon, he's too busy looking at magazines.

 ** _Nervously, I got dressed and followed, sure that I was in huge trouble. For days, I'd been half expecting a summons to the Big House. Now that I was declared a son of_**  
**_Poseidon, one of the Big Three gods who weren't supposed to have kids, I figured it was a crime for me just to be alive. The other gods had probably been debating the best way to punish me for existing, and now Mr. D was ready to deliver their verdict._**

“Instead I got told that I needed to go on a quest to find the master bolt because Zeus was too busy acting like a big child to go and find it himself,” Percy says rolling his eyes.

Zeus was ready to throw his master bolt at Percy. However, Hestia interrupted,”You put that bolt down Zeus! He's correct in his statement!” Hestia glares at Zeus who falters and then sets the master bolt down. You do not argue with Hestia.

 **Over Long Island Sound, the sky looked like ink soup coming to a boil. A hazy curtain of rain was coming**  
**in our direction. I asked Grover if we needed an umbrella.**  
**"No," he said. "It never rains here unless we want it to."**  
**I pointed at the storm. "What the heck is that, then?"**  
**He glanced uneasily at the sky. "It'll pass around us. Bad weather always does."**

“Unless something big is happening or the gods are acting like little kids again,” Nico mutters. The gods didn't hear him so nothing was said from them.

 ** _I realized he was right. In the week I'd been here, it had never even been overcast. The few rain clouds I'd seen had skirted right around the edges of the valley._**  
**_But this storm ... this one was huge._**  
**_At the volleyball pit, the kids from Apollo's cabin were playing a morning game against the satyrs._**  
**_Dionysus's twins were walking around in the strawberry fields, making the plants grow. Everybody was going about their normal business, but they looked tense. They kept their eyes on the storm._**  
**_Grover and I walked up to the front porch of the Big House. Dionysus sat at the pinochle table in his_**  
**_tiger-striped Hawaiian shirt with his Diet Coke, just as he had on my first day. Chiron sat across the table in his fake wheelchair. They were playing against invisible opponents--two sets of cards hovering in the_**  
**_air._**  
**_"Well, well," Mr. D said without looking up. "Our little celebrity." I waited._**

“I'm getting Harry Potter vibes,” Apollo mutters.

 _ **"Come closer," Mr. D said. "And don't expect me to kowtow to you, mortal, just because old Barnacle-Beard is your father."**_  
_**A net of lightning flashed across the clouds. Thunder shook the windows of the house.**_  
_**"Blah, blah, blah," Dionysus said.**_  
_**Chiron feigned interest in his pinochle cards. Grover cowered by the railing, his hooves clopping back and forth.**_  
_**"If I had my way," Dionysus said, "I would cause your molecules to erupt in flames. We'd sweep up the ashes and be done with a lot of trouble.**_

“If you had done that I would not have hesitated to wage war against you,” Poseidon says glaring at Dionysus. He once again, wasn't paying any attention whatsoever.

 ** _But Chiron seems to feel this would be against my mission at_**  
**_this cursed camp: to keep you little brats safe from harm."_**  
**_"Spontaneous combustion is a form of harm, Mr. D," Chiron put in._**  
**_"Nonsense," Dionysus said. "Boy wouldn't feel a thing. Nevertheless, I've agreed to restrain myself I'm thinking of turning you into a dolphin instead, sending you back to your father."_**  
**_"Mr. D-" Chiron warned._**  
**_"Oh, all right," Dionysus relented. "There's one more option. But it's deadly foolishness." Dionysus rose, and the invisible players' cards dropped to the table. "I'm off to Olympus for the emergency meeting. If the boy is still here when I get back, I'll turn him into an Atlantic bottlenose. Do you understand? And Perseus Jackson, if you're at all smart, you'll see that's a much more sensible choice than what Chiron_**  
**_feels you must do." Dionysus picked up a playing card, twisted it, and it became a plastic rectangle. A credit card? No. A_**  
**_security pass._**  
**_He snapped his fingers._**  
**_The air seemed to fold and bend around him. He became a hologram, then a wind, then he was gone, leaving only the smell of fresh-pressed grapes lingering behind._**  
**_Chiron smiled at me, but he looked tired and strained. "Sit, Percy, please. And Grover."_**  
**_We did._**  
**_Chiron laid his cards on the table, a winning hand he hadn't gotten to use._**  
**_"Tell me, Percy," he said. "What did you make of the hellhound?"_**  
**_Just hearing the name made me shudder._**  
**_Chiron probably wanted me to say, Heck, it was nothing. I eat hellhounds for breakfast. But I didn't feel like lying._**

“Never lie unless it's to get out of a situation,” Hestia days smiling softly.

 ** _"It scared me," I said. "If you hadn't shot it, I'd be dead."_**  
**_"You'll meet worse, Percy. Far worse, before you're done."_**  
**_"Done ... with what?" "Your quest, of course. Will you accept it?"_**  
**_I glanced at Grover, who was crossing his fingers._**  
**_"Um, sir," I said, "you haven't told me what it is yet."_**  
**_Chiron grimaced. "Well, that's the hard part, the details."_**  
**_Thunder rumbled across the valley. The storm clouds had now reached the edge of the beach. As far as I could see, the sky and the sea were boiling together._**  
**_"Poseidon and Zeus," I said. "They're fighting over something valuable ... something that was stolen, aren't they?"_**

“There's thunder but no lightning is mentioned,” Reyna mutters. Her eyes widen and she looks toward Zeus's lightning bolt, is that what had been stolen. If so who had stolen it and why.

 ** _Chiron and Grover exchanged looks._**  
**_Chiron sat forward in his wheelchair. "How did you know that?"_**  
**_My face felt hot. I wished I hadn't opened my big mouth. "The weather since Christmas has been weird, like the sea and the sky are fighting. Then I talked to Annabeth, and she'd overheard something about a_**  
**_theft. And ... I've also been having these dreams."_**  
**_"I knew it," Grover said._**  
**_"Hush, satyr," Chiron ordered. "But it is his quest!" Grover's eyes were bright with excitement. "It must be!"_**  
**_"Only the Oracle can determine." Chiron stroked his bristly beard. "Nevertheless, Percy, you are correct. Your father and Zeus are having their worst quarrel in centuries. They are fighting over something valuable that was stolen. To be precise: a lightning bolt."_**

Well who had been the idiot to steal it Reyna thinks barely refraining from rolling her eyes.

 ** _I laughed nervously. "A what?"_**  
**_"Do not take this lightly," Chiron warned. "I'm not talking about some tinfoil-covered zigzag you'd see in a second-grade play. I'm talking about a two-foot-long cylinder of high-grade celestial bronze, capped_**  
**_on both ends with god-level explosives."_**  
**_"Oh."_**  
**_"Zeus's master bolt," Chiron said, getting worked up now. "The symbol of his power, from which all other lightning bolts are patterned. The first weapon made by the Cyclopes for the war against the_**  
**_Titans, the bolt that sheered the top off Mount Etna and hurled Kronos from his throne; the master bolt, which packs enough power to make mortal hydrogen bombs look like firecrackers."_**  
**_"And it's missing?"_**  
**_"Stolen," Chiron said._**  
**_"By who?"_**  
**_"By whom," Chiron corrected. Once a teacher, always a teacher. "By you."_**  
**_My mouth fell open. "At least"-Chiron held up a hand-"that's what Zeus thinks._**

“But that makes no sense. Perseus hadn't known about the godly works yet. He was probably still at Yancy boarding school when this happen. He wouldn't have known how to get into Olympus and steal a master bolt,” Reyna points out. How could they suspect someone who hadn't even know they existed.

“My brothers unfortunately, doesn't have much sense and he acts like a kindergartner,” Hestia says glaring at Zeus 

**_During the winter solstice, at the last council of the gods, Zeus and Poseidon had an argument. The usual nonsense: 'Mother Rhea always liked you best,' Air disasters are more spectacular than sea disasters,' et cetera. Afterward, Zeus realized his_**  
**_master bolt was missing, taken from the throne room under his very nose. He immediately blamed Poseidon. Now, a god cannot usurp another god's symbol of power directly-that is forbidden by the_**  
**_most ancient of divine laws. But Zeus believes your father convinced a human hero to take it."_**  
**_"But I didn't-"_**  
**_"Patience and listen, child," Chiron said. "Zeus has good reason to be suspicious. The forges of the Cyclopes are under the ocean, which gives Poseidon some influence over the makers of his brother's_**  
**_lightning. Zeus believes Poseidon has taken the master bolt, and is now secretly having the Cyclopes build an arsenal of illegal copies, which might be used to topple Zeus from his throne._**

“You always accuse of that, but I as I keep telling you. I want nothing to do with the throne. I'm perfectly happy ruling the oceans,” Poseidon says sighing and shaking his head. Zeus simply frowns and says nothing.

 ** _The only thing Zeus wasn't sure about was which hero Poseidon used to steal the bolt. Now Poseidon has openly claimed you as his son. You were in New York over the winter holidays. You could easily have snuck into Olympus. Zeus believes he has found his thief."_**  
**_"But I've never even been to Olympus! Zeus is crazy!"_**  
**_Chiron and Grover glanced nervously at the sky. The clouds didn't seem to be parting around us, as Grover had promised. They were rolling straight over our valley, sealing us in like a coffin lid._**  
**_"Er, Percy ...?" Grover said. "We don't use the c-word to describe the Lord of the Sky."_**  
**_"Perhaps paranoid," Chiron suggested. "Then again, Poseidon has tried to unseat Zeus before. I believe that was question thirty-eight on your final exam...." He looked at me as if he actually expected me to_**  
**_remember question thirty-eight._**  
**_How could anyone accuse me of stealing a god's weapon? I couldn't even steal a slice of pizza from Gabe's poker party without getting busted. Chiron was waiting for an answer. "Something about a golden net?" I guessed. "Poseidon and Hera and a few other gods ... they, like, trapped Zeus and wouldn't let him out until he promised to be a better ruler, right?"_**

"Correct," Chiron said. "And Zeus has never trusted Poseidon since.

“Apparently the plan didn't work because Zeus is still an immature leader,” Athena mutters. Zeus may be her father but Athena knows that he's not a great leader.

 **Of course, Poseidon denies stealing**  
**the master bolt. He took great offense at the accusation. The two have been arguing back and forth for months, threatening war. And now, you've come along-the proverbial last straw."**  
**"But I'm just a kid!"**  
**"Percy," Grover cut in, "if you were Zeus, and you already thought your brother was plotting to overthrow you, then your brother suddenly admitted he had broken the sacred oath he took after World War II, that he's fathered a new mortal hero who might be used as a weapon against you....**  
**Wouldn't that put a twist in your toga?"**  
**"But I didn't do anything. Poseidon-my dad-he didn't really have this master bolt stolen, did he?"**  
**Chiron sighed. "Most thinking observers would agree that thievery is not Poseidon's style. But the Sea God is too proud to try convincing Zeus of that.**

“Pride is supposed to be my children's fatal flaw not yours barnacle beard,” Athena says rolling her eyes.

 ** _Zeus has demanded that Poseidon return the bolt by the summer solstice. That's June twenty-first, ten days from now. Poseidon wants an apology for being called a thief by the same date. I hoped that diplomacy might prevail, that Hera or Demeter or Hestia_**  
**_would make the two brothers see sense. But your arrival has inflamed Zeus's temper. Now neither god will back down. Unless someone intervenes, unless the master bolt is found and returned to Zeus before_**  
**_the solstice, there will be war. And do you know what a full-fledged war would look like, Percy?"_**  
**_"Bad?" I guessed._**  
**_"Imagine the world in chaos. Nature at war with itself. Olympians forced to choose sides between Zeus and Poseidon. Destruction. Carnage. Millions dead. Western civilization turned into a battleground so big it will make the Trojan War look like a water-balloon fight." "Bad," I repeated._**  
**_"And you, Percy Jackson, would be the first to feel Zeus's wrath."_**  
**_It started to rain. Volleyball players stopped their game and stared in stunned silence at the sky._**  
**_I had brought this storm to Half-Blood Hill. Zeus was punishing the whole camp because of me. I was furious._**

“Anyone would be, honestly and here I thought gods had more sense. Than again this is their Greek form we're talking about,” Reyna mutters.

 ** _"So I have to find the stupid bolt," I said. "And return it to Zeus."_**  
**_"What better peace offering," Chiron said, "than to have the son of Poseidon return Zeus's property?"_**  
**_"If Poseidon doesn't have it, where is the thing?"_**  
**_"I believe I know." Chiron's expression was grim. "Part of a prophecy I had years ago ... well, some of the lines make sense to me, now. But before I can say more, you must officially take up the quest. You must_**  
**_seek the counsel of the Oracle."_**  
**_"Why can't you tell me where the bolt is beforehand?"_**  
**_"Because if I did, you would be too afraid to accept the challenge."_**  
**_I swallowed. "Good reason."_**  
**_"You agree then?" I looked at Grover, who nodded encouragingly._**  
**_Easy for him. I was the one Zeus wanted to kill._**  
**_"All right," I said. "It's better than being turned into a dolphin."_**

“I think I would've preferred to be a dolphin,” Frank mutters.

 ** _"Then it's time you consulted the Oracle," Chiron said. "Go upstairs, Percy Jackson, to the attic. When you come back down, assuming you're still sane, we will talk more."_**  
**_Four flights up, the stairs ended under a green trap-door._**  
**_I pulled the cord. The door swung down, and a wooden ladder clattered into place._**  
**_The warm air from above smelled like mildew and rotten wood and something else ... a smell I remembered from biology class. Reptiles. The smell of snakes._**  
**_I held my breath and climbed._**  
**_The attic was filled with Greek hero junk: armor stands covered in cobwebs; once-bright shields pitted_**  
**_with rust; old leather steamer trunks plastered with stickers saying ITHAKA, CIRCE'S ISLE, and LAND OF_**  
**_THE AMAZONS. One long table was stacked with glass jars filled with pickled things-severed hairy claws,_**  
**_huge yellow eyes, various other parts of monsters. A dusty mounted trophy on the wall looked like a giant snake's head, but with horns and a full set of shark's teeth. The plaque read, HYDRA HEAD #1,_**  
**_WOODSTOCK, N.Y., 1969._**  
**_By the window, sitting on a wooden tripod stool, was the most gruesome memento of all: a mummy._**  
**_Not the wrapped-in-cloth kind, but a human female body shriveled to a husk. She wore a tie-dyed sundress, lots of beaded necklaces, and a headband over long black hair. The skin of her face was thin and leathery over her skull, and her eyes were glassy white slits, as if the real eyes had been replaced by marbles; she'd been dead a long, long time. Looking at her sent chills up my back._**

“My poor Oracle, no Oracle deserves to go like that,” Apollo says sighing. However he brightens up a bit, “it'll transfer to another person one day,” he mutters quietly. 

**_And that was before she sat up on her stool and opened her mouth. A green mist poured from the mummy's mouth, coiling over the floor in thick tendrils, hissing like twenty thousand snakes. I stumbled over myself trying to get to the trap-door, but it slammed shut._**  
**_Inside my head, I heard a voice, slithering into one ear and coiling around my brain: I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, seeker, and_**  
**_ask._**  
**_I wanted to say, No thanks, wrong door, just looking for the bathroom. But I forced myself to take a deep breath._**  
**_The mummy wasn't alive. She was some kind of gruesome receptacle for something else, the power that was now swirling around me in the green mist. But its presence didn't feel evil, like my demonic_**  
**_math teacher Mrs. Dodds or the Minotaur. It felt more like the Three Fates I'd seen knitting the yarn outside the highway fruit stand: ancient, powerful, and definitely not human._**

“Very observant,” Annabeth mutters. How hadn't she noticed how observant Percy was.

 ** _But not particularly interested in killing me, either._**  
**_I got up the courage to ask, "What is my destiny?"_**

“To become a guinea pig,” Apollo says calmly. This causes Annabeth to burst out laughing and the other demigods to be confused.

 ** _The mist swirled more thickly, collecting right in front of me and around the table with the pickled monster-part jars. Suddenly there were four men sitting around the table, playing cards. Their faces became clearer. It was Smelly Gabe and his buddies._**  
**_My fists clenched, though I knew this poker party couldn't be real. It was an illusion, made out of mist._**  
**_Gabe turned toward me and spoke in the rasping voice of the Oracle: You shall go west, and face the god who has turned._**  
**_His buddy on the right looked up and said in the same voice: You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned. The guy on the left threw in two poker chips, then said: You shall he betrayed by one who calls you a friend._**

“Luke,” Percy mutters quietly so no one hears him.

 ** _Finally, Eddie, our building super, delivered the worst line of all: And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end._**  
**_The figures began to dissolve. At first I was too stunned to say anything, but as the mist retreated, coiling into a huge green serpent and slytherin back into the mouth of the mummy, I cried, "Wait! What do you mean? What friend? What will I fail to save?"_**

“In the end they didn't need saving,” Percy mutters smiling as he thinks about his mom.

 ** _The tail of the mist snake disappeared into the mummy's mouth. She reclined back against the wall. Her mouth closed tight, as if it hadn't been open in a hundred years. The attic was silent again, abandoned,_**  
**_nothing but a room full of mementos._**  
**_I got the feeling that I could stand here until I had cob-webs, too, and I wouldn't learn anything else._**  
**_My audience with the Oracle was over._**  
**_"Well?" Chiron asked me._**  
**_I slumped into a chair at the pinochle table. "She said I would retrieve what was stolen."_**  
**_Grover sat forward, chewing excitedly on the remains of a Diet Coke can. "That's great!"_**  
**_"What did the Oracle say exactly?" Chiron pressed. "This is important."_**  
**_My ears were still tingling from the reptilian voice. "She . .. she said I would go west and face a god who had turned. I would retrieve what was stolen and see it safely returned." "I knew it," Grover said._**  
**_Chiron didn't look satisfied. "Anything else?"_**  
**_I didn't want to tell him._**  
**_What friend would betray me? I didn't have that many._**

“I have many I call friend now,” Percy says smiling.

 ** _And the last line-I would fail to save what mattered most. What kind of Oracle would send me on a quest and tell me, Oh, by the way, you'll fail_**  
**_How could I confess that?_**

“Prophecies can always have double meanings,” Reyna mutters.

 ** _"No," I said. "That's about it."_**  
**_He studied my face. "Very well, Percy. But know this: the Oracle's words often have double meanings. Don't dwell on them too much. The truth is not always clear until events come to pass."_**  
**_I got the feeling he knew I was holding back something bad, and he was trying to make me feel better._**  
**_"Okay," I said, anxious to change topics. "So where do I go? Who's this god in the west?"_**  
**_"Ah, think, Percy," Chiron said. "If Zeus and Poseidon weaken each other in a war, who stands to gain?"_**  
**_"Somebody else who wants to take over?" I guessed. "Yes, quite. Someone who harbors a grudge, who has been unhappy with his lot since the world was divided eons ago, whose kingdom would grow powerful with the deaths of millions. Someone who hates_**  
**_his brothers for forcing him into an oath to have no more children, an oath that both of them have now broken."_**

“I'm not angry that  much that Poseidon broke the oath. I'm more angered that Zeus did it because he murdered the mother of my children because apparently they weren't allowed to exist. I simply wanted revenge,” Hades says glaring at Zeus. He would never forgive Zeus for what he did.

 ** _I thought about my dreams, the evil voice that had spoken from under the ground. "Hades."_**  
**_Chiron nodded. "The Lord of the Dead is the only possibility."_**  
**_A scrap of aluminum dribbled out of Grover's mouth. "Whoa, wait. Wh-what?"_**  
**_"A Fury came after Percy," Chiron reminded him. "She watched the young man until she was sure of his identity, then tried to kill him. Furies obey only one lord: Hades."_**  
**_"Yes, but-but Hades hates all heroes," Grover pro-tested. "Especially if he has found out Percy is a son of Poseidon... ."_**  
**_"A hellhound got into the forest," Chiron continued. "Those can only be summoned from the Fields of Punishment, and it had to be summoned by someone within the camp. Hades must have a spy here._**

“There wasn't just one spy,” Percy mutters.

 ** _He must suspect Poseidon will try to use Percy to clear his name. Hades would very much like to kill this young half-blood before he can take on the quest."_**  
**_"Great," I muttered. "That's two major gods who want to kill me."_**  
**_"But a quest to ..." Grover swallowed. "I mean, couldn't the master bolt be in some place like Maine?_**  
**_Maine's very nice this time of year." "Hades sent a minion to steal the master bolt," Chiron insisted. "He hid it in the Underworld, knowing full well that Zeus would blame Poseidon. I don't pretend to understand the Lord of the Dead's motives perfectly, or why he chose this time to start a war, but one thing is certain. Percy must go to the_**  
**_Underworld, find the master bolt, and reveal the truth."_**  
**_A strange fire burned in my stomach. The weirdest thing was: it wasn't fear. It was anticipation. The desire for revenge. Hades had tried to kill me three times so far, with the Fury, the Minotaur, and the hellhound. It was his fault my mother had disappeared in a flash of light. Now he was trying to frame me and my dad for a theft we hadn't committed._**

“Yes sorry about that, wasn't in my right state if mind,” Hades mutters.

 ** _I was ready to take him on._**  
**_Besides, if my mother was in the Underworld ..._**  
**_Whoa, boy, said the small part of my brain that was still sane. You're a kid. Hades is a god._**

“Yes as if you could beat a god,” Reyna says frowning.

Annabeth resisted the urge to smirk, never underestimate someone especially not Percy.

 ** _Grover was trembling. He'd started eating pinochle cards like potato chips._**  
**_The poor guy needed to complete a quest with me so he could get his searcher's license, whatever that was, but how could I ask him to do this quest, especially when the Oracle said I was destined to fail? This_**  
**_was suicide._**

“Everyday life of a demigod for you,” Thalia mutters.

 ** _"Look, if we know it's Hades," I told Chiron, "why can't we just tell the other gods? Zeus or Poseidon could go down to the Underworld and bust some heads."_**  
**_"Suspecting and knowing are not the same," Chiron said. "Besides, even if the other gods suspect Hades-and I imagine Poseidon does-they couldn't retrieve the bolt themselves. Gods cannot cross each_**  
**_other's territories except by invitation._**  
**_That is another ancient rule. Heroes, on the other hand, have certain privileges. They can go anywhere, challenge anyone, as long as they're bold enough and strong enough to do it. No god can be held responsible for a hero's actions. Why do you think the gods always operate through humans?" "You're saying I'm being used."_**

“Aren't we always,” Nico mutters. 

**_"I'm saying it's no accident Poseidon has claimed you now. It's a very risky gamble, but he's in a desperate situation. He needs you."_**  
**_My dad needs me._**  
**_Emotions rolled around inside me like bits of glass in a kaleidoscope. I didn't know whether to feel resentful or grateful or happy or angry. Poseidon had ignored me for twelve years. Now suddenly he needed me._**

Poseidon hung his head shamefully. He should've tried better to communicate with Percy. Damn the ancient laws.

“It's okay father, I forgave you a long time a go,” Percy tells him smiling.

 ** _I looked at Chiron. "You've known I was Poseidon's son all along, haven't you?"_**  
**_"I had my suspicions. As I said ... I've spoken to the Oracle, too."_**  
**_I got the feeling there was a lot he wasn't telling me about his prophecy, but I decided I couldn't worry about that right now. After all, I was holding back information too._**  
**_"So let me get this straight," I said. "I'm supposed go to the Underworld and confront the Lord of the Dead."_**  
**_"Check," Chiron said._**  
**_"Find the most powerful weapon in the universe."_**  
**_"Check." "And get it back to Olympus before the summer solstice, in ten days."_**  
**_"That's about right."_**  
**_I looked at Grover, who gulped down the ace of hearts._**  
**_"Did I mention that Maine is very nice this time of year?" he asked weakly._**  
**_"You don't have to go," I told him. "I can't ask that of you._**  
**_"Oh ..." He shifted his hooves. "No ... it's just that satyrs and underground places ... well..."_**  
**_He took a deep breath, then stood, brushing the shredded cards and aluminum bits off his T-shirt. "You saved my life, Percy. If ... if you're serious about wanting me along, I won't let you down."_**  
**_I felt so relieved I wanted to cry, though I didn't think that would be very heroic. Grover was the only friend I'd ever had for longer than a few months. I wasn't sure what good a satyr could do against the forces of the dead, but I felt better knowing he'd be with me._**

“In a quest, it's always better to go with people you trust,” Thalia mutters. 

**_"All the way, G-man." I turned to Chiron. "So where do we go? The Oracle just said to go west."_**  
**_"The entrance to the Underworld is always in the west. It moves from age to age, just like Olympus._**  
**_Right now, of course, it's in America."_**  
**_"Where?" Chiron looked surprised. "I thought that would be obvious enough. The entrance to the Underworld is in_**  
**_Los Angeles."_**  
**_"Oh," I said. "Naturally. So we just get on a plane-"_**  
**_"No!" Grover shrieked. "Percy, what are you thinking? Have you ever been on a plane in your life?"_**  
**_I shook my head, feeling embarrassed. My mom had never taken me anywhere by plane. She'd always said we didn't have the money. Besides, her parents had died in a plane crash._**  
**_"Percy, think," Chiron said. "You are the son of the Sea God. Your father's bitterest rival is Zeus, Lord of the Sky. Your mother knew better than to trust you in an airplane. You would be in Zeus's domain. You would never come down again alive."_**

“The only reason I let you that time was is you could return my lightning bolt,” Zeus mutters frowning.

 ** _Overhead, lightning crackled. Thunder boomed._**  
**_"Okay," I said, determined not to look at the storm. "So, I'll travel overland."_**  
**_"That's right," Chiron said. "Two companions may accompany you. Grover is one. The other has already volunteered, if you will accept her help."_**  
**_"Gee," I said, feigning surprise. "Who else would be stupid enough to volunteer for a quest like this?"_**  
**_The air shimmered behind Chiron._**  
**_Annabeth became visible, stuffing her Yankees cap into her back pocket. "I've been waiting a long time for a quest, seaweed brain," she said. "Athena is no fan of Poseidon, but if you're going to save the world, I'm the best person to keep you from messing up."_**

“I was very prideful then,” Annabeth says sighing and shaking her head.

_**"If you do say so yourself," I said. "I suppose you have a plan, wise girl?"** _

“Still shocking to know that it was Clarisse that came up with that nickname,” Nico says and Thalia nods agreeing with him.

 ** _Her cheeks colored. "Do you want my help or not?"_**  
**_The truth was, I did. I needed all the help I could get._**  
**_"A trio," I said. "That'll work."_**  
**_"Excellent," Chiron said. "This afternoon, we can take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that, you are on your own."_**  
**_Lightning flashed. Rain poured down on the meadows that were never supposed to have violent weather._**  
**_"No time to waste," Chiron said. "I think you should all get packing."_**

“That's the end of the chapter,” Athena says.

“Suspenseful, very suspenseful,” Leo mutters.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i'm so sorry it's taken so long. My sister is wel now which means il be able to get right back into writing. enjoy the chapter and like always i own nothing.

Aphrodite looked quite timid as she wanted to read the next chapter. “Does anyone mind if i read the next chapter?” she asks a bit timidly. Almost everyone looks surprised but Athena nods and hands Aphrodite the book. 

 

**_10 I RUIN A PERFECTLY GOOD BUS_ **

 

“That’s one way of putting it,” Annabeth says chuckling a bit.

**_  
_ ** **_It didn't take me long to pack. I decided to leave the Minotaur horn in my cabin, which left me only an extra change of clothes and a toothbrush to stuff in a backpack Grover had found for me._ **

 

“That’s not much, however in a quest you also don’t want to carry too much. It can become troublesome.” Reyna says this as if she speaks from experience. Which all things considered, she probably was speaking from experience. 

**_  
_ ** **_The camp store loaned me one hundred dollars in mortal money and twenty golden drachmas._ **

 

“It wasn’t really a loan since we weren’t expected to pay them back.” Grover says.

 

**_These coins were as big as Girl Scout cookies and had images of various Greek gods stamped on one side and the Empire State Building on the other. The ancient mortal drachmas had been silver, Chiron told us, but Olympians never used less than pure gold. Chiron said the coins might come in handy for non-mortal transactions-whatever that meant._ **

 

“You really should’ve watched the introduction video. It went over many things,” Annabeth mutters.

 

**_He gave Annabeth and me each a canteen of nectar and a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia squares, to be used only in emergencies, if we were seriously hurt._ **

 

“And only if you’re seriously hurt,” Apollo added sternly.

 

**_It was god food, Chiron reminded us. It would cure us of almost any injury, but it was lethal to mortals. Too much of it would make a half-blood very, very feverish. An overdose would burn us up, literally._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Annabeth was bringing her magic Yankees cap, which she told me had been a twelfth-birthday present from her mom. She carried a book on famous classical architecture, written in Ancient Greek, to read when she got bored,_ **

 

Thalia laughs and shakes her head. “Only you annie...only you.”

 

Annabeth sighs sadly. “I miss the days when i genuinely thought i could get bored on a quest.” The days when demigod life hadn’t been so harsh. “And don’t call me Annie,” she adds glaring at an amused looking Thalia.

 

“No promises.”

 

**_and a long bronze knife, hidden in her shirt sleeve. I was sure the knife would get us busted the first time we went through a metal detector._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Grover wore his fake feet and his pants to pass as human. He wore a green rasta-style cap, because when it rained his curly hair flattened and you could just see the tips of his horns. His bright orange backpack was full of scrap metal and apples to snack on. In his pocket was a set of reed pipes his daddy goat had carved for him, even though he only knew two songs: Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 12 and Hilary Duff's "So Yesterday," both of which sounded pretty bad on reed pipes._ **

 

Percy looked really guilty. “Sorry Grover. However you got better.”

 

“Yeah i was really bad,” Grover says chuckling a bit.

**_  
_ ** **_We waved good-bye to the other campers, took one last look at the strawberry fields, the ocean, and the Big House, then hiked up Half-Blood Hill to the tall pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus._ **

 

Thalia glares at the back of Grover’s head. She could tell that he was blaming herself. He shouldn't as it was her choice.  

**_  
_ ** **_Chiron was waiting for us in his wheelchair. Next to him stood the surfer dude I'd seen when I was recovering in the sick room. According to Grover, the guy was the camp's head of security. He supposedly had eyes all over his body so he could never be surprised. Today, though, he was wearing a chauffeur's uniform, so I could only see extra peepers on his hands, face and neck._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"This is Argus," Chiron told me. "He will drive you into the city, and, er, well, keep an eye on things."_

 

Nico snorted. "Oh, the puns." 

**_  
_ ** **_I heard footsteps behind us._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Luke came running up the hill, carrying a pair of basketball shoes._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Hey!" he panted. "Glad I caught you."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_Annabeth blushed, the way she always did when Luke was around._

 

"Annie had a crush," Thalia teases.

 

Annabeth glares at her but it doesn't have much of an effect she to Annabeth blushing. 

**_  
_ ** **_"Just wanted to say good luck," Luke told me. "And I thought ... um, maybe you could use these."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_He handed me the sneakers, which looked pretty normal. They even smelled kind of normal._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Luke said, "Maia!"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_White bird's wings sprouted out of the heels, startling me so much, I dropped them. The shoes flapped around on the ground until the wings folded up and disappeared._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"Awesome!" Grover said._

 

"I agree with Grover," Leo says looking amazed. Perhaps one day he could build something that could fly. 

 

Percy frowns unnoticeably as he remembers what happened with those shoes. 

**_  
_ ** **_Luke smiled. "Those served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from Dad. Of course, I don't use them much these days...." His expression turned sad. I didn't know what to say. It was cool enough that Luke had come to say goodbye. I'd been afraid he might resent me for getting so much attention the last few days. But here he was giving me a magic_ ** **_  
_ ** **_gift.... It made me blush almost as much as Annabeth._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Hey, man," I said. "Thanks."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"Listen, Percy ..." Luke looked uncomfortable. "A lot of hopes are riding on you. So just ... kill some monsters for me, okay?"_

 

“Something tells me that, that is not what he had been meaning to say,” Thalia mutters.

**_  
_ ** **_We shook hands. Luke patted Grover's head between his horns, then gave a goodbye hug to Annabeth, who looked like she might pass out._ ** **_  
_ ** **_After Luke was gone, I told her, "You're hyperventilating."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Am not."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You let him capture the flag instead of you, didn't you?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Oh ... why do I want to go anywhere with you, Percy?"_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_She stomped down the other side of the hill, where a white SUV waited on the shoulder of the road._

 

Nico opened his mouth to say something but Annabeth’s glare stopped him.

**_  
_ ** **_Argus followed, jingling his car keys._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_I picked up the flying shoes and had a sudden bad feeling. I looked at Chiron. "I won't be able to use these, will I?"_

  
  


“So you do have some self preservation.” Nico mutters. 

**_  
_ ** **_He shook his head. "Luke meant well, Percy._ **

 

Those who knew what had happened frowned a bit.

 

**_But taking to the air ... that would not be wise for you." I nodded, disappointed, but then I got an idea. "Hey, Grover. You want a magic item?"_ **

**_His eyes lit up. "Me?"_ **

**_Pretty soon we'd laced the sneakers over his fake feet, and the world's first flying goat boy was ready for launch._ **

 

Thalia and Nico chuckled a bit at this.

 

**_"Maia!" he shouted._ **

**_He got off the ground okay, but then fell over sideways so his backpack dragged through the grass. The winged shoes kept bucking up and down like tiny broncos._ **

**_"Practice," Chiron called after him. "You just need practice!"_ **

**_"Aaaaa!" Grover went flying sideways down the hill like a possessed lawn mower,_ **

 

The laughter got a bit louder as Grover turned red.

 

**_heading toward the van._ **

**_Before I could follow, Chiron caught my arm. "I should have trained you better, Percy," he said. "If only I had more time. Hercules, Jason-they all got more training."_ **

**_"That's okay. I just wish-"_ **

**_I stopped myself because I was about to sound like a brat. I was wishing my dad had given me a cool magic item to help on the quest, something as good as Luke's flying shoes, or Annabeth's invisible cap._ **

 

“I did you just hadn’t been given it yet,” Poseidon says.

 

Percy twirls riptide in his hands. He smiles gratefully at his father, the sword has served him wel.

 

**_"What am I thinking?" Chiron cried. "I can't let you get away without this."_ **

**_He pulled a pen from his coat pocket and handed it to me. It was an ordinary disposable ballpoint, black ink, removable cap. Probably cost thirty cents._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Gee," I said. "Thanks."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Percy, that's a gift from your father. I've kept it for years, not knowing you were who I was waiting for._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_But the prophecy is clear to me now. You are the one."_

  
  


“I still know nothing about this prophecy,” Percy mutters.

**_  
_ ** **_I remembered the field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, when I'd vaporized Mrs. Dodds. Chiron had thrown me a pen that turned into a sword. Could this be ... ?_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_I took off the cap, and the pen grew longer and heavier in my hand. In half a second, I held a shimmering bronze sword with a double-edged blade, a leather-wrapped grip, and a flat hilt riveted with gold studs. It was the first weapon that actually felt balanced in my hand._

 

Those who had not seen riptide looked at it curiously. 

**_  
_ ** **_"The sword has a long and tragic history that we need not go into," Chiron told me._ **

 

Artemis sighs sadly, her poor Zoe. Percy glares a bit at the book, Hercules was no hero.

 

**_"Its name is Anaklusmos."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"'Riptide,'" I translated, surprised the Ancient Greek came so easily._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"Use it only for emergencies," Chiron said, "and only against monsters. No hero should harm mortals unless absolutely necessary, of course, but this sword wouldn't harm them in any case."_

 

“Why not?” Piper asks curiously. 

 

“I’m pretty sure the book explains it,” Percy replies smiling and shrugging.

 

**_  
_ ** **_I looked at the wickedly sharp blade. "What do you mean it wouldn't harm mortals? How could it not?"_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"The sword is celestial bronze. Forged by the Cyclopes, tempered in the heart of Mount Etna, cooled in the River Lethe. It's deadly to monsters, to any creature from the Underworld, provided they don't kill you first. But the blade will pass through mortals like an illusion. They simply are not important enough for the blade to kill._

 

“That’s interesting,” Leo mutters.

 

**_And I should warn you: as a demigod, you can be killed by either celestial or normal weapons. You are twice as vulnerable."_ **

 

“Well isn’t that wonderful,” Piper says sarcastically.

 

**_"Good to know."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Now recap the pen."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I touched the pen cap to the sword tip and instantly Riptide shrank to a ballpoint pen again. I tucked it in my pocket, a little nervous, because I was famous for losing pens at school._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You can't," Chiron said._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Can't what?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Lose the pen," he said. "It is enchanted. It will always reappear in your pocket. Try it."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I was wary, but I threw the pen as far as I could down the hill and watched it disappear in the grass._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"It may take a few moments," Chiron told me. "Now check your pocket."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_Sure enough, the pen was there._

 

“That is extremely cool,” Leo mutters.

**_  
_ ** **_"Okay, that's extremely cool," I admitted. "But what if a mortal sees me pulling out a sword?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Chiron smiled. "Mist is a powerful thing, Percy."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Mist?" "Yes. Read The Iliad. It's full of references to the stuff. Whenever divine or monstrous elements mix with the mortal world, they generate Mist, which obscures the vision of humans. You will see things just as they are, being a half-blood, but humans will interpret things quite differently. Remarkable, really, the lengths to which humans will go to fit things into their version of reality."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I put Riptide back in my pocket._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_For the first time, the quest felt real. I was actually leaving Half-Blood Hill. I was heading west with no adult supervision, no backup plan, not even a cell phone. (Chiron said cell phones were traceable by monsters; if we used one, it would be worse than sending up a flare.) I had no weapon stronger than a sword to fight off monsters and reach the Land of the Dead._

 

“Must you be so pessimistic? Annabeth asks sighing.

 

“I prefer the term realistic? Percy replies.

**_  
_ ** **_"Chiron ..." I said. "When you say the gods are immortal... I mean, there was a time before them, right?"_ **

 

“Oh boy. You do have a habit of asking the big questions kelp head,” Thalia mutters.

**_  
_ ** **_"Four ages before them, actually. The Time of the Titans was the Fourth Age, sometimes called the Golden Age, which is definitely a misnomer._ **

 

“You can say that again,” Zeus grumbled, scowling.

 

**_This, the time of Western civilization and the rule of Zeus, is the Fifth Age."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"So what was it like ... before the gods?"_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_Chiron pursed his lips. "Even I am not old enough to remember that, child, but I know it was a time of darkness and savagery for mortals. Kronos, the lord of the Titans, called his reign the Golden Age because men lived innocent and free of all knowledge. But that was mere propaganda. The Titan king cared nothing for your kind except as appetizers or a source of cheap entertainment. It was only in the early reign of Lord Zeus, when Prometheus the good Titan brought fire to mankind, that your species began to progress, and even then Prometheus was branded a radical thinker. Zeus punished him severely, as you may recall._

 

“Not all Titans are bad. Perhaps you should give some of them a chance. Could help stop many wars,” Percy says. Some gods think about this, he could be right.

 

**_Of course, eventually the gods warmed to humans, and Western civilization was born."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"But the gods can't die now, right? I mean, as long as Western civilization is alive, they're alive. So ... even if I failed, nothing could happen so bad it would mess up everything, right?"_ **

 

“It is not something i would recommend. Aside from everything else, think about humanity.” It is surprisingly Aphrodite who says this.

 

**_Chiron gave me a melancholy smile. "No one knows how long the Age of the West will last, Percy. The gods are immortal, yes. But then, so were the Titans. They still exist, locked away in their various prisons, forced to endure endless pain and punishment, reduced in power, but still very much alive. May the Fates forbid that the gods should ever suffer such a doom, or that we should ever return to the darkness and chaos of the past. All we can do, child, is follow our destiny."_ **

 

“Easier said than done,” Percy mutters.

**_  
_ ** **_"Our destiny ... assuming we know what that is."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"Relax," Chiron told me. "Keep a clear head. And remember, you may be about to prevent the biggest war in human history."_

 

“Who could possibly be relaxed about that?” Frank mutters.

**_  
_ ** **_"Relax," I said. "I'm very relaxed."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_When I got to the bottom of the hill, I looked back. Under the pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus, Chiron was now standing in full horseman form, holding his bow high in salute. Just your typical summer-camp send-off by your typical centaur._

 

A few people chuckled at that.

**_  
_ ** **_* * *_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Argus drove us out of the countryside and into western Long Island. It felt weird to be on a highway again, Annabeth and Grover sitting next to me as if we were normal carpoolers. After two weeks at Half-Blood Hill, the real world seemed like a fantasy. I found myself staring at every McDonald's, every kid in the back of his parents' car, every billboard and shopping mall._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"So far so good," I told Annabeth. "Ten miles and not a single monster."_

 

“Ever heard of Murphy's law?” Reyna asks sighing. “Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong, especially if you comment on how nothing’s gone wrong or ask what could possibly go wrong.”

 

Percy smiles sheepishly.

 

**_She gave me an irritated look. "It's bad luck to talk that way, seaweed brain."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Remind me again-why do you hate me so much?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I don't hate you."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Could've fooled me."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_She folded her cap of invisibility. "Look ... we're just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals."_

 

“You don’t have to stick to your parent’s rivalries,” Aphrodite says rolling her eyes.

**_  
_ ** **_"Why?"_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_She sighed. "How many reasons do you want?_

 

“And do you want them alphabetically or chronologically?” Apollo asked.

 

**_One time my mom caught Poseidon with his girlfriend in Athena's temple, which is hugely disrespectful._ **

 

“Yeah dad that was kind of out of order,” Percy said with a frown. “I mean i would take your side but come on. In her temple?”

 

Athena looks shocked at what the sea spawn says. Just perhaps this male isn’t so bad.

 

To everyone’s surprise, Poseidon merely sighed. “You’re right Percy it was an incredibly insulting thing for me to do. I was angry at Athena and lashed out in a very childish way. I hope you can forgive me one day niece,” Poseidon tells a shocked Athena.

 

Athena simply nods and looks shocked at the apology.

 

**_Another time, Athena and Poseidon competed to be the patron god for the city of Athens. Your dad created some stupid saltwater spring for his gift. My mom created the olive tree. The people saw that her gift was better, so they named the city after her."_ **

“Well you can eat olives. Not much you can do with a salt water spring,” Nico said fiarly.

**_  
_ ** **_"They must really like olives."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Oh, forget it."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Now, if she'd invented pizza-that I could understand."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"I said, forget it!" In the front seat, Argus smiled. He didn't say anything, but one blue eye on the back of his neck winked at me._

 

_ So they had always been this way  _ Nico thought. In a away it was comforting to him. It was bad enough having an unrequited crush, but at least he knew it was nothing against him. 

**_  
_ ** **_Traffic slowed us down in Queens. By the time we got into Manhattan it was sunset and starting to rain._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Argus dropped us at the Greyhound Station on the Upper East Side, not far from my mom and Gabe's apartment. Taped to a mailbox was a soggy flyer with my picture on it: HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BOY?_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_I ripped it down before Annabeth and Grover could notice._

 

“We noticed,’ Annabeth admits. “We just didn’t say anything.” 

**_  
_ ** **_Argus unloaded our bags, made sure we got our bus tickets, then drove away, the eye on the back of his hand opening to watch us as he pulled out of the parking lot._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I thought about how close I was to my old apartment. On a normal day, my mom would be home from the candy store by now. Smelly Gabe was probably up there right now, playing poker, not even missing her._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Grover shouldered his backpack. He gazed down the street in the direction I was looking. "You want to know why she married him, Percy?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I stared at him. "Were you reading my mind or something?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Just your emotions." He shrugged. "Guess I forgot to tell you satyrs can do that. You were thinking about your mom and your stepdad, right?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_I nodded, wondering what else Grover might've forgotten to tell me. "Your mom married Gabe for you," Grover told me. "You call him 'Smelly,' but you've got no idea. The_ ** **_  
_ ** **_guy has this aura.... Yuck. I can smell him from here. I can smell traces of him on you, and you haven't been near him for a week."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Thanks," I said. "Where's the nearest shower?"_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"You should be grateful, Percy. Your stepfather smells so repulsively human he could mask the presence of any demigod. As soon as I took a whiff inside his Camaro, I knew: Gabe has been covering your scent for years. If you hadn't lived with him every summer, you probably would've been found by monsters a long time ago. Your mom stayed with him to protect you. She was a smart lady. She must've loved you a lot to put up with that guy-if that makes you feel any better."_

  
  


“Oddly enough it didn’t,” Percy murmured to Annabeth who hushed him.

**_  
_ ** **_It didn't, but I forced myself not to show it._ **

 

Grover deflated a bit but Percy patted him on the shoulder. “It’s okay man you were trying and i appreciate it.” 

 

**_I'll see her again, I thought. She isn't gone._ **

 

“Oh dear.” Persephone said. “This isn’t going to go well.”

 

“Well the boy must’ve succeeded,” Hades said reluctantly. “Nico knows his mother in the future after all.”

 

“That’s true,.” Persephone turns a curious gaze on Percy who says nothing.

**_  
_ ** **_I wondered if Grover could still read my emotions, mixed up as they were. I was glad he and Annabeth were with me, but I felt guilty that I hadn't been straight with them. I hadn't told them the real reason I'd said yes to this crazy quest._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_The truth was, I didn't care about retrieving Zeus's lightning bolt, or saving the world, or even helping my father out of trouble. The more I thought about it, I resented Poseidon for never visiting me, never helping my mom, never even sending a lousy child-support check. He'd only claimed me because he needed a job done._

 

“I promise, Percy, that is not the only reason.”

 

“Sorry, We’re going to go over this a lot in this book.”

**_  
_ ** **_All I cared about was my mom. Hades had taken her unfairly, and Hades was going to give her back._ ** **_  
_ ** **_You will be betrayed by one who calls you a friend, the Oracle whispered in my mind. You will fail to save what matters most in the end._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Shut up, I told it. The rain kept coming down._ ** **_  
_ ** **_We got restless waiting for the bus and decided to play some Hacky Sack with one of Grover's apples._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Annabeth was unbelievable. She could bounce the apple off her knee, her elbow, her shoulder, whatever. I wasn't too bad myself._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_The game ended when I tossed the apple toward Grover and it got too close to his mouth. In one mega goat bite, our Hacky Sack disappeared-core, stem, and all._

 

No one really focused on that. No they were more focused on the fact that Percy had tossed an apple to annabeth. 

 

“You’re engaged now,” Thalia says looking very amused.

 

“What? NO we aren’t.” Annabeth states firmly both her and Percy blushing. There was a few chuckles.

**_  
_ ** **_Grover blushed. He tried to apologize, but Annabeth and I were too busy cracking up._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Finally the bus came. As we stood in line to board, Grover started looking around, sniffing the air like he smelled his favorite school cafeteria delicacy-enchiladas._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"What is it?" I asked._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"I don't know," he said tensely. "Maybe it's nothing."_

 

‘It definitely wasn’t nothing,” Annabeth mutters.

**_  
_ ** **_But I could tell it wasn't nothing. I started looking over my shoulder, too._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_I was relieved when we finally got on board and found seats together in the back of the bus._

 

“Bad idea. You should always sit near an exit for a quick getaway,” Jason mutters.

 

**_We stowed our backpacks. Annabeth kept slapping her Yankees cap nervously against her thigh._ **

 

“And don’t put your bags away. Keep them near you at all times,” Thalia adds.

**_  
_ ** **_As the last passengers got on, Annabeth clamped her hand onto my knee. "Percy."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_An old lady had just boarded the bus. She wore a crumpled velvet dress, lace gloves, and a shapeless orange-knit hat that shadowed her face, and she carried a big paisley purse. When she tilted her head up, her black eyes glittered, and my heart skipped a beat. It was Mrs. Dodds. Older, more withered, but definitely the same evil face._

 

“Alecto,” Nico says sighing.

**_  
_ ** **_I scrunched down in my seat._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Behind her came two more old ladies: one in a green hat, one in a purple hat. Otherwise they looked exactly like Mrs. Dodds-same gnarled hands, paisley handbags, wrinkled velvet dresses. Triplet demon grandmothers._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_They sat in the front row, right behind the driver. The two on the aisle crossed their legs over the walkway, making an X. It was casual enough, but it sent a clear message: nobody leaves._

 

Annabeth decides not to make a joke on Nobody as everyone was tense enough as it was.

**_  
_ ** **_The bus pulled out of the station, and we headed through the slick streets of Manhattan. "She didn't stay dead long," I said, trying to keep my voice from quivering. "I thought you said they could be dispelled for a lifetime."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"I said if you're lucky," Annabeth said. "You're obviously not."_

 

“That sums up your life Percy,” Grover mutters.

**_  
_ ** **_"All three of them," Grover whimpered. "Di immortales!"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"It's okay," Annabeth said, obviously thinking hard. "The Furies. The three worst monsters from the Underworld. No problem. No problem. We'll just slip out the windows."_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"They don't open," Grover moaned._

 

“That and he bus is moving,” Nico muters.

**_  
_ ** **_"A back exit?" she suggested. There wasn't one. Even if there had been, it wouldn't have helped. By that time, we were on Ninth Avenue, heading for the Lincoln Tunnel._ **

 

“Isn’t there rules against that?” Piper asks frowning.

**_  
_ ** **_"They won't attack us with witnesses around," I said. "Will they?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Mortals don't have good eyes," Annabeth reminded me. "Their brains can only process what they see through the Mist."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"They'll see three old ladies killing us, won't they?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_She thought about it. "Hard to say. But we can't count on mortals for help. Maybe an emergency exit in the roof ... ?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_We hit the Lincoln Tunnel, and the bus went dark except for the running lights down the aisle. It was eerily quiet without the sound of the rain._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Mrs. Dodds got up. In a flat voice, as if she'd rehearsed it, she announced to the whole bus: "I need to use the restroom."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"So do I," said the second sister._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"So do I," said the third sister._ ** **_  
_ ** **_They all started coming down the aisle._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"I've got it," Annabeth said. "Percy, take my hat."_

 

“What!?” Thalia asked, before Athena could. “Annabeth what’s that going to do?”

 

“Well. Percy would be invisible. He was the one they wanted and i thought his smell could’ve overpowered ours,” Annabeth replies.

 

Had it been anyone else, Athena would have agreed. However, this was her daughter and she worries even if she doesn’t show it.

 

**_"What?"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"You're the one they want. Turn invisible and go up the aisle. Let them pass you. Maybe you can get to the front and get away."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"But you guys-"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"There's an outside chance they might not notice us," Annabeth said. "You're a son of one of the Big Three. Your smell might be overpowering."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"I can't just leave you."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Don't worry about us," Grover said. "Go!"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_My hands trembled. I felt like a coward, but I took the Yankees cap and put it on._ ** **_  
_ ** **_When I looked down, my body wasn't there anymore._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I started creeping up the aisle. I managed to get up ten rows, then duck into an empty seat just as the Furies walked past._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Mrs. Dodds stopped, sniffing, and looked straight at me. My heart was pounding._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Apparently she didn't see anything. She and her sisters kept going._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I was free. I made it to the front of the bus. We were almost through the Lincoln Tunnel now. I was about to press the emergency stop button when I heard hideous wailing from the back row. The old ladies were not old ladies anymore. Their faces were still the same-I guess those couldn't get any uglier- but their bodies had shriveled into leathery brown hag bod-ies with bat's wings and hands and feet like gargoyle claws. Their handbags had turned into fiery whips._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_The Furies surrounded Grover and Annabeth, lashing their whips, hissing: "Where is it? Where?"_

 

“I didn’t realize that was strange until later. I just assumed they were talking about him,” Annabeth quickly says before anyone questions her.

**_  
_ ** **_The other people on the bus were screaming, cowering in their seats. They saw something, all right._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"He's not here!" Annabeth yelled. "He's gone!"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_The Furies raised their whips._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Annabeth drew her bronze knife. Grover grabbed a tin can from his snack bag and prepared to throw it._ ** **_  
_ ** **_What I did next was so impulsive and dangerous I should've been named ADHD poster child of the year._ ** **_  
_ ** **_The bus driver was distracted, trying to see what was going on in his rearview mirror._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_Still invisible, I grabbed the wheel from him and jerked it to the left. Everybody howled as they were thrown to the right, and I heard what I hoped was the sound of three Furies smashing against the windows._

 

“It was a good idea but everyone else got thrown as well,” Grover says and Percy smiled apologetically.

**_  
_ ** **_"Hey!" the driver yelled. "Hey-whoa!"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_We wrestled for the wheel. The bus slammed against the side of the tunnel, grinding metal, throwing sparks a mile behind us. We careened out of the Lincoln Tunnel and back into the rainstorm, people and monsters tossed around the bus, cars plowed aside like bowling pins._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Somehow the driver found an exit. We shot off the highway, through half a dozen traffic lights, and ended up barreling down one of those New Jersey rural roads where you can't believe there's so much nothing right across the river from New York. There were woods to our left, the Hudson River to our right, and the driver seemed to be veering toward the river._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_Another great idea: I hit the emergency brake._

 

“You and your impulses,” Thalia mutters. 

**_  
_ ** **_The bus wailed, spun a full circle on the wet asphalt, and crashed into the trees. The emergency lights came on. The door flew open. The bus driver was the first one out, the passengers yelling as they stampeded after him. I stepped into the driver's seat and let them pass._ ** **_  
_ ** **_The Furies regained their balance. They lashed their whips at Annabeth while she waved her knife and yelled in Ancient Greek, telling them to back off. Grover threw tin cans._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_I looked at the open doorway. I was free to go, but I couldn't leave my friends._

 

“You’re going to do something stupid aren’t you?” Thalia asks wryly.

 

**_I took off the invisible cap. "Hey!"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_The Furies turned, baring their yellow fangs at me, and the exit suddenly seemed like an excellent idea._ **

 

“Sure now he goes for it,” Nico grumbles. 

**_  
_ ** **_Mrs. Dodds stalked up the aisle, just as she used to do in class, about to deliver my F- math test._ **

 

“Why do you still call her Mrs. Dodds?” Piper asks looking a bit amused.

 

“Have you heard her introduce herself?” Percy asks shrugging.

 

**_Every time she flicked her whip, red flames danced along the barbed leather._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Her two ugly sisters hopped on top of the seats on either side of her and crawled toward me like huge nasty lizards._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Perseus Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said, in an accent that was definitely from somewhere farther south than_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_Georgia. "You have offended the gods. You shall die." "I liked you better as a math teacher," I told her._

Nico sighed shaking his head. “Yeah, this is why she hates you.”

**_  
_ ** **_She growled._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Annabeth and Grover moved up behind the Furies cautiously, looking for an opening._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I took the ballpoint pen out of my pocket and un-capped it. Riptide elongated into a shimmering double-edged sword._ ** **_  
_ ** **_The Furies hesitated._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Mrs. Dodds had felt Riptide's blade before. She obviously didn't like seeing it again._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Submit now," she hissed. "And you will not suffer eternal torment."_ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Nice try," I told her._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Percy, look out!" Annabeth cried._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Mrs. Dodds lashed her whip around my sword hand while the Furies on the either side lunged at me._ ** **_  
_ ** **_My hand felt like it was wrapped in molten lead, but I managed not to drop Riptide. I stuck the Fury on the left with its hilt, sending her toppling backward into a seat. I turned and sliced the Fury on the right._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_As soon as the blade connected with her neck, she screamed and exploded into dust. Annabeth got Mrs. Dodds in a wrestler's hold and yanked her backward while Grover ripped the whip out of her hands._

 

Grover got some cheers and her turned a bit red.

 

**_"Ow!" he yelled. "Ow! Hot! Hot!"_ ** **_  
_ ** **_The Fury I'd hilt-slammed came at me again, talons ready, but I swung Riptide and she broke open like a piñata._ **

 

“One down, two to go,” Leo mutters.

**_  
_ ** **_Mrs. Dodds was trying to get Annabeth off her back. She kicked, clawed, hissed and bit, but Annabeth held on while Grover got Mrs. Dodds' legs tied up in her own whip. Finally they both shoved her backward into the aisle. Mrs. Dodds tried to get up, but she didn't have room to flap her bat wings, so she kept falling down._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_"Zeus will destroy you!" she promised. "Hades will have your soul!"_

 

“Are you sure you two weren’t working together?” Athena asks hades and Zeus.

 

“As if we would ever,” Zeus grumbles.

**_  
_ ** **_"Braccas meas vescimini!" I yelled._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_I wasn't sure where the Latin came from. I think it meant "Eat my pants!"_

 

“It does,” Athena replies.

**_  
_ ** **_Thunder shook the bus. The hair rose on the back of my neck._ ** **_  
_ ** **_"Get out!" Annabeth yelled at me. "Now!" I didn't need any encouragement._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_We rushed outside and found the other passengers wandering around in a daze, arguing with the driver, or running around in circles yelling, "We're going to die!" A Hawaiian-shirted tourist with a camera snapped my photograph before I could recap my sword._

 

“That’s not good,” Thalia mutters.

**_  
_ ** **_"Our bags!" Grover realized. "We left our-"_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_BOOOOOM!_

 

“And that is why you should always keep your supplies near you,” Jason said.

 

Athena glares at Zeus. “May daughter was on that bus,” she says angrily. Annabeth looks shocked that her mother is worrying about her.

 

“She got out,” Zeus said,

 

“She could’ve died!”

 

“Enough!” Hera said firmly. “We can talk about this later. We must be nearing the end of the chapter. Aphrodite?” 

 

**_The windows of the bus exploded as the passengers ran for cover. Lightning shredded a huge crater in the roof, but an angry wail from inside told me Mrs. Dodds was not yet dead._ **

 

“No sadly,” Annabeth mutters still in shock that her mother had worried about her.

**_  
_ ** **_"Run!" Annabeth said. "She's calling for reinforcements! We have to get out of here!"_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_We plunged into the woods as the rain poured down, the bus in flames behind us, and nothing but darkness ahead._

 

“That’s the end of the chapter,” Aphrodite says sighing and setting the book down.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here is the next chapter. Enjoy it and remember, I own nothing. Rick Riordan owns Percy Jackson. To all of those who wished my sister well thank you so much. She is definitely doing better.

"I'll read next," Hermes says grabbing the book.

 

**_11 WE VISIT THE GARDEN_ **

**_GNOME EMPORIUM_ **

**_In a way, it's nice to know there are Greek gods out there, because you have somebody to blame when things go wrong._ **

 

Most of the gods did not look happy with that statement but they said nothing. 

 

**_For instance, when you're walking away from a bus that's just been attacked by_ **

**_monster hags and blown up by lightning, and it's raining on top of everything else, most people might think that's just really bad luck; when you're a half-blood, you understand that some divine force really_ **

**_is trying to mess up your day._ **

 

Athena and Poseidon glare at both Hades and Zeus, reminded once again of the danger they put their children in. 

 

**_So there we were, Annabeth and Grover and I, walking through the woods along the New Jersey riverbank, the glow of New York City making the night sky yellow behind us, and the smell of the Hudson reeking in our noses. Grover was shivering and braying, his big goat eyes turned slit-pupiled and full of terror. "Three Kindly Ones. All three at once." I was pretty much in shock myself. The explosion of bus windows still rang in my ears. But Annabeth kept pulling us along, saying: "Come on! The farther away we get, the better."_ **

 

Athena nodded approvingly, they should get as far away from the danger as possible. 

 

**_"All our money was back there," I reminded her. "Our food and clothes. Everything."_ **

**_"Well, maybe if you hadn't decided to jump into the fight-"_ **

 

"What did you expect him to do? Leave you to face the three furies yourself?" Thalia asks Annabeth shaking her head. 

 

**_"What did you want me to do? Let you get killed?"_ **

 

"One of these days you're going to give me a heart attack Annie," Thalia mutters. 

 

**_"You didn't need to protect me, Percy. I would've been fine."_ **

**_"Sliced like sandwich bread," Grover put in, "but fine."_ **

 

"He's right. I was being stupid," Annabeth says sighing.

 

"Pride has its place," Athena told her.

 

"My fatal flaw," Annabeth mutters. "I try to watch out for it, but sometimes it sneaks up on me." 

 

**_"Shut up, goat boy," said Annabeth._ **

**_Grover brayed mournfully. "Tin cans ... a perfectly good bag of tin cans."_ **

**_We sloshed across mushy ground, through nasty twisted trees that smelled like sour laundry._ **

**_After a few minutes, Annabeth fell into line next to me. "Look, I..." Her voice faltered. "I appreciate your_ **

**_coming back for us, okay? That was really brave."_ **

**_"We're a team, right?"_ **

"Yes we are," Annabeth replies smiling and bumping her shoulder slightly against Percy's. Behind them, Thalia and Nico were betting on how long it would take them to get together. 

 

**_She was silent for a few more steps. "It's just that if you died ... aside from the fact that it would really_ **

**_suck for you, it would mean the quest was over. This may be my only chance to see the real world."_ **

 

"that's just sad," Piper mutters. 

 

**_The thunderstorm had finally let up. The city glow faded behind us, leaving us in almost total darkness. I couldn't see anything of Annabeth except a glint of her blond hair._ **

**_"You haven't left Camp Half-Blood since you were seven?" I asked her._ **

**_"No ... only short field trips._ **

 

"Why? That's just seems confining." Piper looks confused, why couldn't they see the real world.

 

"It's too dangerous, you never know when a monster can attack," Jason replies. 

 

**_My dad-"_ **

**_"The history professor."_ **

**_"Yeah. It didn't work out for me living at home._ **

 

"I'm happy I gave him another chance," Annabeth mutters smiling. 

 

**_I mean, Camp Half-Blood is my home."_ **

 

The Greek demigods agree smiling brightly.

 

**_She was rushing her words out now, as if she were afraid somebody might try to stop her. "At camp you train and train._ **

**_And that's all cool and everything, but the real world is where the monsters are. That's where you learn whether you're any good or not." If I didn't know better, I could've sworn I heard doubt in her voice._ **

 

"You're amazing, don't doubt yourself," Percy tells her smiling. 

 

**_"You're pretty good with that knife," I said._ **

**_"You think so?"_ **

**_"Anybody who can piggyback-ride a Fury is okay by me."_ **

 

Aphrodite smiled at the both of them, they would make a great couple. Hopefully they realize it soon enough. 

 

**_I couldn't really see, but I thought she might've smiled. "You know," she said, "maybe I should tell you ... Something funny back on the bus ..."_ **

 

"That's right, they were asking about it not him," Reyna says looking curious. 

 

**_Whatever she wanted to say was interrupted by a shrill toot-toot-toot, like the sound of an owl being_ **

**_tortured._ **

**_"Hey, my reed pipes still work!" Grover cried. "If I could just remember a 'find path' song, we could get out of these woods!"_ **

**_He puffed out a few notes, but the tune still sounded suspiciously like Hilary Duff._ **

**_Instead of finding a path, I immediately slammed into a tree and got a nice-size knot on my head._ **

 

There were a few chuckles and Percy just smiled sheepishly. 

 

**_Add to the list of superpowers I did not have: infrared vision._ **

**_After tripping and cursing and generally feeling miserable for another mile or so, I started to see light up ahead: the colors of a neon sign. I could smell food. Fried, greasy, excellent food._ **

 

"That's very unhealthy," Demeter says frowning. Children need to eat healthy food if they want to have a longer lifespan. 

 

**_I realized I hadn't eaten anything unhealthy since I'd arrived at Half-Blood Hill, where we lived on grapes, bread, cheese,_ **

**_and extra-lean-cut nymph-prepared barbecue. This boy needed a double cheeseburger._ **

 

"That sounds delicious right now," Nico mutters. 

 

**_We kept walking until I saw a deserted two-lane road through the trees. On the other side was a closed-down gas station, a tattered billboard for a 1990s movie, and one open business, which was the source_ **

**_of the neon light and the good smell._ **

 

"I don't like the sound of that," Athena stated frowning.

 

"Why not?" Hermes asks confused.

 

"The road is deserted, what business stays open on a deserted road?" Athena was not liking this at all, something was going to happen. 

 

**_It wasn't a fast-food restaurant like I'd hoped. It was one of those weird roadside curio shops that sell lawn flamingos and wooden Indians and cement grizzly bears and stuff like that. The main building was_ **

**_a long, low warehouse, surrounded by acres of statuary. The neon sign above the gate was impossible for me to read, because if there's anything worse for my dyslexia than regular English, it's red cursive_ **

**_neon English. To me, it looked like: ATNYU MES GDERAN GOMEN MEPROUIM._ **

 

"I had no idea it was this difficult for demigods," Athena mutters. She would definitely look into a way to make their dyslexia easier. 

 

**_"What the heck does that say?" I asked._ **

**_"I don't know," Annabeth said._ **

**_She loved reading so much, I'd forgotten she was dyslexic, too. Grover translated: "Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium."_ **

**_Flanking the entrance, as advertised, were two cement garden gnomes, ugly bearded little runts, smiling and waving, as if they were about to get their picture taken._ **

 

Athena's feeling of something not being right keeps getting bigger and bigger. 

 

**_I crossed the street, following the smell of the hamburgers."Hey ..." Grover warned._ **

**_"The lights are on inside," Annabeth said. "Maybe it's open."_ **

**_"Snack bar," I said wistfully._ **

**_"Snack bar," she agreed._ **

**_"Are you two crazy?" Grover said. "This place is weird."_ **

**_We ignored him._ **

 

"Sorry Grover," Annabeth says shaking her head. 

 

**_The front lot was a forest of statues: cement animals, cement children, even a cement satyr playing the_ **

**_pipes, which gave Grover the creeps._ **

**_"Bla-ha-ha!" he bleated. "Looks like my Uncle Ferdinand!"_ **

**_We stopped at the warehouse door._ **

**_"Don't knock," Grover pleaded. "I smell monsters."_ **

 

"Annabeth I know you've been taught better than to ignore a warning like that," Athena says looking at Annabeth and frowning.

 

"I was but I didn't listen and I'm sorry," Annabeth replies looking down at her feet. 

 

**_"Your nose is clogged up from the Furies," Annabeth told him. "All I smell is burgers. Aren't you hungry?"_ **

**_"Meat!" he said scornfully. "I'm a vegetarian."_ **

**_"You eat cheese enchiladas and aluminum cans," I reminded him._ **

 

"Neither of which are meat," Nico says. 

 

**_"Those are vegetables. Come on. Let's leave. These statues are ... looking at me."_ **

**_Then the door creaked open, and standing in front of us was a tall Middle Eastern woman-at least, I assumed she was Middle Eastern, because she wore a long black gown that covers everything but her_ **

**_hands, and her head was completely veiled. Her eyes glinted behind a curtain of black gauze, but that was about all I could make out. Her coffee-colored hands looked old, but well-manicured and elegant, so I imagined she was a grandmother who had once been a beautiful lady._ **

 

"I feel as if I should know this lady," Athena mutters. 

 

**_Her accent sounded vaguely Middle Eastern, too. She said, "Children, it is too late to be out all alone._ **

**_Where are your parents?"_ **

**_"They're ... um ..." Annabeth started to say. "We're orphans," I said._ **

**_"Orphans?" the woman said. The word sounded alien in her mouth. "But, my dears! Surely not!"_ **

**_"We got separated from our caravan," I said. "Our circus caravan. The ringmaster told us to meet him at the gas station if we got lost, but he may have forgotten, or maybe he meant a different gas station._ **

**_Anyway, we're lost. Is that food I smell?"_ **

 

"Your circus caravan," Apollo repeated. "I've got to hand it to you kid that's a lie so awful it might just work." 

 

**_"Oh, my dears," the woman said. "You must come in, poor children. I am Aunty Em. Go straight through_ **

**_to the back of the warehouse, please. There is a dining area."_ **

**_We thanked her and went inside._ **

**_Annabeth muttered to me, "Circus caravan?"_ **

**_"Always have a strategy, right?"_ **

**_"Your head is full of kelp."_ **

 

"That's my line," Thalia mutters. 

 

**_The warehouse was filled with more statues-people in all different poses, wearing all different outfits and with different expressions on their faces. I was thinking you'd have to have a pretty huge garden to_ **

**_fit even one of these statues, because they were all life-size._ **

 

Athena's eyes widened, she was really hoping that her guess right now was wrong. 

 

**_But mostly, I was thinking about food. Go ahead, call me an idiot for walking into a strange lady's shop like that just because I was hungry, but I do impulsive stuff sometimes._ **

 

"You're an idiot," Thalia says with a note of affection.

 

**_Plus, you've never smelled Aunty Em's burgers. The aroma was like_ **

**_laughing gas in the dentist's chair-it made everything else go away. I barely noticed Grover's nervous whimpers, or the way the statues' eyes seemed to follow me, or the fact that Aunty Em had locked the door behind us._ **

 

Athena was currently hiding her worry for her daughter. They had walked straight into a monster's lair. 

 

**_All I cared about was finding the dining area. And sure enough, there it was at the back of the warehouse, a fast-food counter with a grill, a soda fountain, a pretzel heater, and a nacho cheese dispenser. Everything you could want, plus a few steel picnic tables out front._ **

**_"Please, sit down," Aunty Em said._ **

**_"Awesome," I said._ **

**_"Um," Grover said reluctantly, "we don't have any money, ma'am."_ **

 

"If she's a monster than she won't care," Hera says. 

 

**_Before I could jab him in the ribs, Aunty Em said, "No, no, children. No money. This is a special case, yes?_ **

**_It is my treat, for such nice orphans."_ **

**_"Thank you, ma'am," Annabeth said._ **

**_Aunty Em stiffened, as if Annabeth had done something wrong, but then the old woman relaxed just as quickly, so I figured it must've been my imagination._ **

**_"Quite all right, Annabeth," she said._ **

 

"We should've noticed that, we never introduced ourselves," Annabeth says shaking her head. 

 

**_"You have such beautiful gray eyes, child."_ **

 

All this was just proving Athena's guess right. "Of all the monsters to run into you ran into her," she mutters. 

 

**_Only later did I wonder how she knew Annabeth's name, even though we had never introduced ourselves. Our hostess disappeared behind the snack counter and started cooking. Before we knew it, she'd brought us plastic trays heaped with double cheeseburgers, vanilla shakes, and XXL servings of French fries. I was halfway through my burger before I remembered to breathe. Annabeth slurped her shake._ **

**_Grover picked at the fries, and eyed the tray's waxed paper liner as if he might go for that, but he still looked too nervous to eat._ **

**_"What's that hissing noise?" he asked._ **

 

Poseidon's eyes widen now, he had put the puzzle together by now also. 

 

**_I listened, but didn't hear anything. Annabeth shook her head._ **

**_"Hissing?" Aunty Em asked. "Perhaps you hear the deep-fryer oil. You have keen ears, Grover."_ **

**_"I take vitamins. For my ears."_ **

**_"That's admirable," she said. "But please, relax."_ **

**_Aunty Em ate nothing. She hadn't taken off her head-dress, even to cook, and now she sat forward and interlaced her fingers and watched us eat. It was a little unsettling, having someone stare at me when I couldn't see her face, but I was feeling satisfied after the burger, and a little sleepy, and I figured the least I could do was try to make small talk with our hostess._ **

**_"So, you sell gnomes," I said, trying to sound interested._ **

**_"Oh, yes," Aunty Em said. "And animals. And people. Anything for the garden. Custom orders. Statuary is very popular, you know."_ **

**_"A lot of business on this road?" "Not so much, no. Since the highway was built... most cars, they do not go this way now. I must cherish every customer I get."_ **

 

"Oh she cherished them alright," Percy mutters. 

 

**_My neck tingled, as if somebody else was looking at me. I turned, but it was just a statue of a young girl holding an Easter basket. The detail was incredible, much better than you see in most garden statues._ **

**_But something was wrong with her face. It looked as if she were startled, or even terrified._ **

 

"Why would you make a statue look terrified?" Leo asks looking confused. 

 

"You wouldn't," Poseidon answers grimly. "I know who this is." 

 

**_"Ah," Aunty Em said sadly. "You notice some of my creations do not turn out well. They are marred. They do not sell. The face is the hardest to get right. Always the face."_ **

**_"You make these statues yourself?" I asked._ **

**_"Oh, yes. Once upon a time, I had two sisters to help me in the business, but they have passed on, and Aunty Em is alone. I have only my statutes. This is why I make them, you see. They are my company." The_ **

**_sadness in her voice sounded so deep and so real that I couldn't help feeling sorry for her. Annabeth had stopped eating. She sat forward and said, "Two sisters?"_ **

 

"That's right Annabeth just think," Thalia says forgetting that Annabeth is safe and sound. 

 

**_"It's a terrible story," Aunty Em said. "Not one for children, really. You see, Annabeth, a bad woman was jealous of me, long ago, when I was young._ **

 

Athena huffed angrily. "I was not jealous of her she Dishonored my temple!" 

 

"You gods should think about your actions more. It actions like these that lead to demigods having to deal with problems you created," Percy says shaking his head. Many gods contemplate his statement. 

 

**_I had a... a boyfriend, you know, and this bad woman was determined to break us apart. She caused a terrible accident. My sisters stayed by me. They shared my bad fortune as long as they could, but eventually they passed on. They faded away. I alone have_ **

**_survived, but at a price. Such a price."_ **

**_I wasn't sure what she meant, but I felt bad for her. My eyelids kept getting heavier, my full stomach making me sleepy. Poor old lady. Who would want to hurt somebody so nice?_ **

 

"Okay that's powerful hypnotic stuff right there," Reyna mutters. 

 

**_"Percy?" Annabeth was shaking me to get my attention. "Maybe we should go. I mean, the ringmaster will be waiting." She sounded tense. I wasn't sure why. Grover was eating the waxed paper off the tray now, but if Aunty Em found that strange, she didn't say anything. "Such beautiful gray eyes," Aunty Em told Annabeth again. "My, yes, it has been a long time since I've seen gray eyes like those."_ **

**_She reached out as if to stroke Annabeth's cheek, but Annabeth stood up abruptly._ **

**_"We really should go."_ **

**_"Yes!" Grover swallowed his waxed paper and stood up. "The ringmaster is waiting! Right!"_ **

**_I didn't want to leave. I felt full and content. Aunty Em was so nice. I wanted to stay with her a while. "Please, dears," Aunty Em pleaded. "I so rarely get to be with children. Before you go, won't you at least sit for a pose?"_ **

 

"No!" Both Poseidon and Athena protested. 

 

**_"A pose?" Annabeth asked warily._ **

**_"A photograph. I will use it to model a new statue set. Children are so popular, you see. Everyone loves children."_ **

**_Annabeth shifted her weight from foot to foot. "I don't think we can, ma'am. Come on, Percy-"_ **

**_"Sure we can," I said. I was irritated with Annabeth for being so bossy, so rude to an old lady who'd just fed us for free._ **

 

"Except she wasn't just an old lady," Annabeth mutters. 

 

**_"It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?" "Yes, Annabeth," the woman purred. "No harm."_ **

**_I could tell Annabeth didn't like it, but she allowed Aunty Em to lead us back out the front door, into the garden of statues._ **

**_Aunty Em directed us to a park bench next to the stone satyr. "Now," she said, "I'll just position you correctly. The young girl in the middle, I think, and the two young gentlemen on either side."_ **

**_"Not much light for a photo," I remarked._ **

 

"She's not taking a photo," Poseidon growled. 

 

**_"Oh, enough," Aunty Em said. "Enough for us to see each other, yes?"_ **

**_"Where's your camera?" Grover asked._ **

**_Aunty Em stepped back, as if to admire the shot. "Now, the face is the most difficult. Can you smile for me please, everyone? A large smile?"Grover glanced at the cement satyr next to him, and mumbled, "That sure does look like Uncle Ferdinand."_ **

**_"Grover," Aunty Em chastised, "look this way, dear."_ **

**_She still had no camera in her hands._ **

**_"Percy-" Annabeth said. Some instinct warned me to listen to Annabeth, but I was fighting the sleepy feeling, the comfortable lull that came from the food and the old lady's voice._ **

**_"I will just be a moment," Aunty Em said. "You know, I can't see you very well in this cursed veil...."_ **

**_"Percy, something's wrong," Annabeth insisted._ **

**_"Wrong?" Aunty Em said, reaching up to undo the wrap around her head. "Not at all, dear. I have such noble company tonight. What could be wrong?"_ **

**_"That is Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover gasped._ **

 

Grover let out a distressed bleat and Annabeth gave a small hug. 

 

**_"Look away from her!" Annabeth shouted. She whipped her Yankees cap onto her head and vanished. Her invisible hands pushed Grover and me both off the bench._ **

**_I was on the ground, looking at Aunt Em's sandaled feet._ **

**_I could hear Grover scrambling off in one direction, Annabeth in another. But I was too dazed to move._ **

**_Then I heard a strange, rasping sound above me. My eyes rose to Aunty Em's hands, which had turned gnarled and warty, with sharp bronze talons for fingernails._ **

**_I almost looked higher, but somewhere off to my left Annabeth screamed, "No! Don't!"_ **

**_More rasping-the sound of tiny snakes, right above me, from ... from about where Aunty Em's head would be._ **

 

"that's the gorgon Médusa!" Jason exclaims looking shocked and worried. 

 

**_"Run!" Grover bleated. I heard him racing across the gravel, yelling, "Maia!" to kick-start his flying sneakers._ **

**_I couldn't move. I stared at Aunty Em's gnarled claws, and tried to fight the groggy trance the old woman had put me in._ **

**_"Such a pity to destroy a handsome young face," she told me soothingly. "Stay with me, Percy. All you have to do is look up."_ **

**_I fought the urge to obey. Instead I looked to one side and saw one of those glass spheres people put in gardens- a gazing ball. I could see Aunty Em's dark reflection in the orange glass; her headdress was_ **

**_gone, revealing her face as a shimmering pale circle. Her hair was moving, writhing like serpents._ **

**_Aunty Em._ **

**_Aunty "M."_ **

**_How could I have been so stupid?_ **

**_Think, I told myself. How did Medusa die in the myth?_ **

 

"Her head was cut of...by Perseus ironically," Annabeth replies. 

 

**_But I couldn't think. Something told me that in the myth Medusa had been asleep when she was attacked by my namesake, Perseus. She wasn't anywhere near asleep now. If she wanted, she could take those talons right now and rake open my face."The Gray-Eyed One did this to me, Percy,"_ **

 

"She deserved it," Athena mutters. 

 

**_Medusa said, and she didn't sound anything like a monster. Her voice invited me to look up, to sympathize with a poor old grandmother. "Annabeth's mother, the_ **

**_cursed Athena, turned me from a beautiful woman into this." "Don't listen to her!" Annabeth's voice shouted, somewhere in the statuary. "Run, Percy!"_ **

**_"Silence!" Medusa snarled. Then her voice modulated back to a comforting purr. "You see why I must destroy the girl, Percy. She is my enemy's daughter. I shall crush her statue to dust._ **

 

"Touch my daughter and I will make my last curse look like a harmless joke," Athena snapped.

 

Annabeth felt touched that her mother actually worried about her. 

 

**_But you, dear Percy, you need not suffer."_ **

**_"No," I muttered. I tried to make my legs move._ **

**_"Do you really want to help the gods?" Medusa asked. "Do you understand what awaits you on this foolish quest, Percy? What will happen if you reach the Underworld? Do not be a pawn of the_ **

**_Olympians, my dear. You would be better off as a statue. Less pain. Less pain."_ **

 

"Well," Thalia said with a grimace, "she might have a point there."

 

"We do not see you like pawns," Apollo tells her.

 

"Sure feels like it sometimes," Nico mutters. 

 

**_"Percy!" Behind me, I heard a buzzing sound, like a two-hundred-pound hummingbird in a nosedive._ **

**_Grover yelled, "Duck!"_ **

**_I turned, and there he was in the night sky, flying in from twelve o'clock with his winged shoes fluttering, Grover, holding a tree branch the size of a baseball bat. His eyes were shut tight, his head twitched from_ **

**_side to side. He was navigating by ears and nose alone._ **

**_"Duck!" he yelled again. "I'll get her!"_ **

**_That finally jolted me into action. Knowing Grover, I was sure he'd miss Medusa and nail me. I dove to one side._ **

**_Thwack!_ **

**_At first I figured it was the sound of Grover hitting a tree. Then Medusa roared with rage._ **

**_"You miserable satyr," she snarled. "I'll add you to my collection!" "That was for Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover yelled back._ **

**_I scrambled away and hid in the statuary while Grover swooped down for another pass.Ker-whack!_ **

**_"Arrgh!" Medusa yelled, her snake-hair hissing and spitting.Right next to me, Annabeth's voice said, "Percy!"_ **

**_I jumped so high my feet nearly cleared a garden gnome. "Jeez! Don't do that!"_ **

**_Annabeth took off her Yankees cap and became visible. 'You have to cut her head off."_ **

**_"What? Are you crazy? Let's get out of here."_ **

**_"Medusa is a menace. She's evil. I'd kill her myself, but..." Annabeth swallowed, as if she were about to make a difficult admission. "But you've got the better weapon. Besides, I'd never get close to her. She'd_ **

**_slice me to bits because of my mother. You-you've got a chance."_ **

**_"What? I can't-"_ **

**_"Look, do you want her turning more innocent people into statues?"_ **

 

"That'll get him," Thalia said confidently. "Percy's a sucker for helping people." 

 

**_She pointed to a pair of statue lovers, a man and a woman with their arms around each other, turned to stone by the monster. Annabeth grabbed a green gazing ball from a nearby pedestal. "A polished shield would be better." She studied the sphere critically. "The convexity will cause some distortion. The reflection's size should be_ **

**_off by a factor of-"_ **

**_"Would you speak English?"_ **

 

"We aren't all geniuses,"Leo reminds her. 

 

**_"I am!" She tossed me the glass ball. "Just look at her in the glass. Never look at her directly."_ **

**_"Hey, guys!" Grover yelled somewhere above us. "I think she's unconscious!"_ **

**_"Roooaaarrr!"_ **

**_"Maybe not," Grover corrected. He went in for another pass with the tree branch._ **

**_"Hurry," Annabeth told me. "Grover's got a great nose, but he'll eventually crash."_ **

**_I took out my pen and uncapped it. The bronze blade of Riptide elongated in my hand.I followed the hissing and spitting sounds of Medusa's hair.I kept my eyes locked on the gazing ball so I would only glimpse Medusa's reflection, not the real thing._ **

**_Then, in the green tinted glass, I saw her._ **

**_Grover was coming in for another turn at bat, but this time he flew a little too low. Medusa grabbed the_ **

**_stick and pulled him off course. He tumbled through the air and crashed into the arms of a stone grizzly bear with a painful "Umphh!" Medusa was about to lunge at him when I yelled, "Hey!"_ **

**_I advanced on her, which wasn't easy, holding a sword and a glass ball. If she charged, I'd have a hard time defending myself._ **

**_But she let me approach-twenty feet, ten feet._ **

**_I could see the reflection of her face now. Surely it wasn't really that ugly._ **

 

"She really is," Athena mutters. 

 

**_The green swirls of the gazing_ **

**_ball must be distorting it, making it look worse._ **

**_"You wouldn't harm an old woman, Percy," she crooned. "I know you wouldn't."_ **

**_I hesitated, fascinated by the face I saw reflected in the glass-the eyes that seemed to burn straight through the green tint, making my arms go weak._ **

**_From the cement grizzly, Grover moaned, "Percy, don't listen to her!"_ **

**_Medusa cackled. "Too late."_ **

**_She lunged at me with her talons._ **

**_I slashed up with my sword, heard a sickening shlock!  then a hiss like wind rushing out of a cavern-the sound of a monster disintegrating._ **

 

Athena and Poseidon both sighed in relief. 

 

**_Something fell to the ground next to my foot. It took all my willpower not to look. I could feel warm ooze soaking into my sock, little dying snake heads tugging at my shoelaces. "Oh, yuck," Grover said. His eyes were still tightly closed, but I guess he could hear the thing gurgling and steaming. "Mega-yuck."_ **

**_Annabeth came up next to me, her eyes fixed on the sky. She was holding Medusa's black veil. She said,_ **

**_"Don't move."_ **

**_Very, very carefully, without looking down, she knelt and draped the monster's head in black cloth, then picked it up. It was still dripping green juice._ **

**_"Are you okay?" she asked me, her voice trembling._ **

**_"Yeah," I decided, though I felt like throwing up my double cheeseburger. "Why didn't ... why didn't the head evaporate?"_ **

**_"Once you sever it, it becomes a spoil of war," she said. "Same as your minotaur horn. But don't unwrap the head. It can still petrify you."_ **

**_Grover moaned as he climbed down from the grizzly statue. He had a big welt on his forehead. His green rasta cap hung from one of his little goat horns, and his fake feet had been knocked off his hooves. The_ **

**_magic sneakers were flying aimlessly around his head."The Red Baron," I said. "Good job, man."_ **

**_He managed a bashful grin. "That really was not fun, though. Well, thehitting-her-with-a-stick part, that_ **

**_was fun. But crashing into a concrete bear? Not fun."_ **

**_He snatched his shoes out of the air. I recapped my sword. Together, the three of us stumbled back to the warehouse. We found some old plastic grocery bags behind the snack counter and double-wrapped Medusa's head._ **

 

"Good. Better safe than sorry," Athena says. 

 

**_We plopped it on the table where we'd eaten dinner and sat around it, too exhausted to speak. Finally I said, "So we have Athena to thank for this monster?"_ **

**_Annabeth flashed me an irritated look. "Your dad, actually. Don't you remember? Medusa was Poseidon's girlfriend. They decided to meet in my mother's temple. That's why Athena turned her into a monster. Medusa and her two sisters who had helped her get into the temple, they became the three_ **

**_gorgons. That's why Medusa wanted to slice me up, but she wanted to preserve you as a nice statue._ **

**_She's still sweet on your dad. You probably reminded her of him."_ **

**_My face was burning. "Oh, so now it's my fault we met Medusa."_ **

**_Annabeth straightened. In a bad imitation of my voice, she said: "'It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?'"_ **

**_"Forget it," I said. "You're impossible."_ **

**_"You're insufferable."_ **

 

"Grover stop them," Thalia said wearily. "They'll go on for hours. And you don't have time for them to flirt."

 

"We weren't flirting!" Annabeth protests both her and Percy blushing. 

 

**_"You're-"_ **

**_"Hey!" Grover interrupted._ **

 

"Thank you," Thalia mouthed at him. 

 

**_"You two are giving me a migraine, and satyrs don't even get migraines._ **

**_What are we going to do with the head?"_ **

**_I stared at the thing. One little snake was hanging out of a hole in the plastic. The words printed on the_ **

**_side of the bag said: WE APPRECIATE YOUR BUSINESS! I was angry, not just with Annabeth or her mom, but with all the gods for this whole quest, for getting us_ **

**_blown off the road and in two major fights the very first day out from camp. At this rate, we'd never make it to L.A. alive, much less before the summer solstice._ **

 

Most gods looked down guilty. They had heard these sorts for complaints before but had just brushed it off as their children being overdramatic. But they had just heard first hand that it really wasn't.

 

**_What had Medusa said?_ **

**_Do not be a pawn of the Olympians, my dear. You would be better off as a statue._ **

**_I got up. "I'll be back."_ **

**_"Percy," Annabeth called after me. "What are you-"_ **

**_I searched the back of the warehouse until I found Medusa's office. Her account book showed her six most recent sales, all shipments to the Underworld to decorate Hades and Persephone's garden._ **

 

"I didn't know it was her," Persephone said quickly.

 

"You had a suspecicion thought," Athena said.

 

"Yes, but what was the point in saying anything? We can't interfere. All I would be doing is sending a hero on a potentially fatal quest." 

 

**_According to one freight bill, the Underworld's billing address was DOA Recording Studios, West Hollywood, California. I folded up the bill and stuffed it in my pocket.In the cash register I found twenty dollars, a few golden drachmas, and some packing slips for Hermes Overnight Express, each with a little leather bag attached for coins._ **

 

Hermes held up a hand. "I just deliver don't ask questions."

 

"Maybe you should," Zeus said.

 

"Why? Persephone's right, you'd just have sent one of our kids to dispatch her. Forgive me of I want my kids to stay safe." 

 

**_I rummaged around the rest of the_ **

**_office until I found the right-size box._ **

**_I went back to the picnic table, packed up Medusa's head, and filled out a delivery slip:_ **

**_The Gods_ **

**_Mount Olympus_ **

**_600th Floor,_ **

**_Empire State Building_ **

**_New York, NY_ **

**_With best wishes,_ **

**_PERCY JACKSON_ **

**_"They're not going to like that," Grover warned. "They'll think you're impertinent."_ **

**_I poured some golden drachmas in the pouch. As soon as I closed it, there was a sound like a cash register. The package floated off the table and disappeared with a pop!_ **

**_"I am impertinent," I said._ **

 

"He's not wrong," Thalia mutters." 

 

**_I looked at Annabeth, daring her to criticize._ **

**_She didn't._ **

 

"I kind of got it," she said softly. 

 

**_She seemed resigned to the fact that I had a major talent for ticking off the gods._ **

 

"That's putting it mildly," Annabeth mutters. 

 

**_"Come on," she muttered. "We need a new plan."_ **

 

"Yes you do and also that's the end of the chapter," Hermes says.


	13. Poodle Advice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone here is the next chapter. So following i have a few questions, some related to the story and some not. You don't have to read them or answer them but it would be great if you do.
> 
> 1\. Okay so after this book finishes do you want me to continue on with all the book about their past. or do you want me to skip that and go to their future, since technically this is for them to find out what Apollo saw in the future. Let me know which idea you like better.
> 
> 2\. Would any of you be interested in having me set up a discord server? This way you can all talk with each other and reach me directly?
> 
> 3\. I am planning on writing more reaction books. would any of you be interested in me doing the following?:
> 
> *Reading harry potter
> 
> *FBAWTFT watches FBAWTFT
> 
> *Characters watch their show (open to suggestions)
> 
> *Avengers watch the movies
> 
> *Disney characters watch their movies (open to suggestions)

 

“I guess I’ll read now,” Apollo says shrugging and Hermes hands him the book.

 

**_12 WE GET ADVICE_ **

**_FROM A POODLE_ **

 

“Do poodles give good advice? Leo asks, amused at the name of the chapter.

 

“All animals can give good advice,” Grover answered. “It’s just a question of whether they want to.”

 

**_We were pretty miserable that night. We camped out in the woods, a hundred yards from the main road, in a marshy clearing that local kids had obviously been using for parties. The ground was littered with flattened soda cans and fast-food wrappers._ **

 

Both demeter and grover scowled at that. “You mortals keep polluting the earth,” Demter mutters angrily. 

 

**_We'd taken some food and blankets from Aunty Em's, but we didn't dare light a fire to dry our damp clothes._ **

 

“Couldn’t you have dried them?” Piper asks Percy curiously.

 

“I could’ve but i didn’t know about it at that time,” Percy replies.

 

“And it’s in situations like these that it would be helpful to speak to our godly parents because sometimes we get abilities that only they’re aware of,” Thalia points out shrugging.

 

“So I have been trying to get everyone to see. If we don’t start helping our demigod children we could end up fighting a war that we have no chance of winning,” Apollo says frowning.

 

“Apollo what have you seen?” Artemis asks him worriedly. This isn’t Apollo, at least the the Apollo she knows. The Apollo she know is bright, cheery and flirtatious.

 

“I’m sure these books will reveal it,” Apollo replies shrugging.

 

**_The Furies and Medusa had provided enough excitement for one day. We didn't want to attract anything else._ **

 

**_We decided to sleep in shifts. I volunteered to take first watch._ **

 

“I was happy you did because i was exhausted,” Annabeth said.

 

**_Annabeth curled up on the blankets and was snoring as soon as her head hit the ground._ **

**_Grover fluttered with his flying shoes to the lowest bough of a tree, put his back to the trunk, and stared at the_ **

**_night sky._ **

 

**_"Go ahead and sleep," I told him. "I'll wake you if there's trouble."_ **

 

**_He nodded, but still didn't close his eyes. "It makes me sad, Percy." "What does? The fact that you signed up for this stupid quest?"_ **

 

**_"No. This makes me sad." He pointed at all the garbage on the ground. "And the sky. You can't even see the stars. They've polluted the sky. This is a terrible time to be a satyr."_ **

 

“It really is awful,” Persephine says softly and sadly.

 

**_"Oh, yeah. I guess you'd be an environmentalist."_ **

 

**_He glared at me. "Only a human wouldn't be. Your species is clogging up the world so fast ... ah, nevermind. It's useless to lecture a human. At the rate things are going, I'll never find Pan."_ **

 

**_"Pam? Like the cooking spray?"_ **

 

Percy flushes a bit when nearly everyone chuckles.

 

**_"Pan!" he cried indignantly. "P-A-N. The great god Pan! What do you think I want a searcher's license for?"_ **

 

**_A strange breeze rustled through the clearing, temporarily overpowering the stink of trash and muck. It brought the smell of berries and wildflowers and clean rain-water, things that might have once been in these woods. Suddenly I was nostalgic for something I'd never known._ **

 

“Think that was him?” Grover asks smiling sadly.

 

“Maybe,” Percy tells him.

 

**_"Tell me about the search," I said._ **

 

Hermes has to remind himself that it isn’t his fault his child went missing.

 

**_Grover looked at me cautiously, as if he were afraid I was just making fun._ **

 

“I wouldn’t,” Percy said. “It was important to you.”

 

**_"The God of Wild Places disappeared two thousand years ago," he told me. "A sailor off the coast of Ephesos heard a mysterious voice crying out from the shore, 'Tell them that the great god Pan has died!'_ **

 

Hermes made small  noise in the back of his throat. “Has he been found?” 

 

“In a way Lord Hermes. Everything got cleared up,” Annabeth tells him smiling. Hermes nods and says nothing more 

 

**_When humans heard the news, they believed it. They've been pillaging Pan's kingdom ever since. But for the satyrs, Pan was our lord and master. He protected us and the wild places of the earth. We refuse to believe that he died. In every generation, the bravest satyrs pledge their lives to finding Pan. They search the earth, exploring all the wildest places, hoping to find where he is hidden, and wake him from his sleep."_ **

 

**_"And you want to be a searcher."_ **

 

**_"It's my life's dream," he said. "My father was a searcher. And my Uncle Ferdinand ... the statue you saw back there-"_ **

 

**_"Oh, right, sorry."_ **

 

**_Grover shook his head. "Uncle Ferdinand knew the risks. So did my dad. But I'll succeed. I'll be the first searcher to return alive."_ **

 

“The first?” Piper repeated startled.

 

“It’s a dangerous job,” Hermes said, his voice sombre.

 

**_"Hang on-the first?"_ **

 

**_Grover took his reed pipes out of his pocket. "No searcher has ever come back. Once they set out, they disappear. They're never seen alive again."_ **

 

**_"Not once in two thousand years?"_ **

 

**_"No."_ **

 

**_"And your dad? You have no idea what happened to him?"_ **

 

**_"None."_ **

 

**_"But you still want to go," I said, amazed._ **

 

“I’ve come to learn that devotion is a powerful thing,” Percy says softly.

 

**_"I mean, you really think you'll be the one to find Pan?"_ **

 

**_"I have to believe that, Percy. Every searcher does. It's the only thing that keeps us from despair when we look at what humans have done to the world. I have to believe Pan can still be awakened."_ **

**_I stared at the orange haze of the sky and tried to understand how Grover could pursue a dream that seemed so hopeless. Then again, was I any better?_ **

 

**_"How are we going to get into the Underworld?" I asked him. "I mean, what chance do we have against a god?"_ **

 

“Depends on whether they’re too focused on being arrogant or they are actually paying attention to the fight,” Annabeth replies shrugging.

 

**_"I don't know," he admitted. "But back at Medusa's, when you were searching her office? Annabeth was telling me-"_ **

 

**_"Oh, I forgot. Annabeth will have a plan all figured out."_ **

 

“And Thank goodness she will, because we’d be lost without her and she’s amazing,”” Percy finished quickly.

 

“Nice save,” Annabeth said a bit smug.

 

“Percabeth,” Thalia teases them and the both of them glare at her.

 

**_"Don't be so hard on her, Percy. She's had a tough life, but she's a good person. After all, she forgave me...." His voice faltered._ **

 

“Grover it wasn’t your fault. Thalia made her choice,” Annabeth tels him smiling softly and Thalia nods agreeing. 

 

**_"What do you mean?" I asked. "Forgave you for what?"_ **

 

**_Suddenly, Grover seemed very interested in playing notes on his pipes._ **

 

**_"Wait a minute," I said. "Your first keeper job was five years ago. Annabeth has been at camp five years. She wasn't ... I mean, your first assignment that went wrong-"_ **

 

“It wasn’t Annabeth. However, you’re quite good at piecing things together,” Thaliaa tells Percy.

 

**_"I can't talk about it," Grover said, and his quivering lower lip suggested he'd start crying if I pressed him._ **

 

**_"But as I was saying, back at Medusa's, Annabeth and I agreed there's something strange going on with this quest. Something isn't what it seems."_ **

 

Athena gave her daughter a proud smile.

 

**_"Well, duh. I'm getting blamed for stealing a thunder-bolt that Hades took."_ **

 

**_"That's not what I mean," Grover said. "The Fur-The Kindly Ones were sort of holding back. Like Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy ... why did she wait so long to try to kill you? Then on the bus, they just weren't as aggressive as they could've been."_ **

 

**_"They seemed plenty aggressive to me."_ **

 

**_Grover shook his head. "They were screeching at us: 'Where is it? Where?'"_ **

 

**_"Asking about me," I said._ **

 

**_"Maybe ... but Annabeth and I, we both got the feel-ing they weren't asking about a person. They said 'Where is it?' They seemed to be asking about an object."_ **

 

“I should have realized it,” Annabeth says shaking her head.

 

“How? You’re good wise girl but you needed more of the puzzle.”

 

**_"That doesn't make sense."_ **

**_"I know. But if we've misunderstood something about this quest, and we only have nine days to find the master bolt...."_ **

 

“Well let’s hope you figure everything out,” Leo mutters.

 

**_He looked at me like he was hoping for answers, but I didn't have any._ **

 

**_I thought about what Medusa had said: I was being used by the gods._ **

 

“We would use a different solution if we could. There have been many times when I've wanted to intervene and help my children,” Aphrodite says sadly. How many children of hers could have been saved if she had been allowed to.

 

**_What lay ahead of me was worse than petrifi-cation._ **

 

**_"I haven't been straight with you," I told Grover. "I don't care about the master bolt._ **

**_I agreed to go to the Underworld so I could bring back my mother."_ **

 

**_Grover blew a soft note on his pipes. "I know that, Percy._ **

 

“You’re not exactly subtle,” Grover tels Percy shrugging.

 

**_But are you sure that's the only reason?"_ **

 

**_"I'm not doing it to help my father. He doesn't care about me. I don't care about him."_ **

 

“I do care about you, however back then I was angry at you. I’m not anymore,” Percy tells his father smiling.

 

**_Grover gazed down from his tree branch._ **

 

**_"Look, Percy, I'm not as smart as Annabeth. I'm not as brave as you._ **

  
  


“You took on Medusa with flying shoes and a branch. That’s pretty brave to me,” Leo tells Grover shrugging.

 

**_But I'm pretty good at reading emotions. You're glad your dad is alive. You feel good that he's claimed you, and part of you wants to make him proud. That's why you mailed Medusa's head to Olympus. You wanted him to notice what you'd done."_ **

 

**_"Yeah? Well maybe satyr emotions work differently than human emotions. Because you're wrong. I don't care what he thinks."_ **

 

“Yes I do,” Percy mutters.

 

**_Grover pulled his feet up onto the branch. "Okay, Percy. Whatever."_ **

 

**_"Besides, I haven't done anything worth bragging about. We barely got out of New York and we're stuck here with no money and no way west."_ **

 

“I am proud of you, even back then. You never had to do anything impressive to make me proud of you Percy,” Poseidon tells percy smiling.

 

“Thanks dad,” Percy says, it’s nice to hear that.

 

**_Grover looked at the night sky, like he was thinking about that problem. "How about I take first watch, huh? You get some sleep."_ **

 

**_I wanted to protest, but he started to play Mozart, soft and sweet, and I turned away, my eyes stinging. After a few bars of Piano Concerto no. 12, I was asleep. In my dreams,_ **

 

“You have the worst dreams,” Leo mutters.

 

**_I stood in a dark cavern before a gaping pit._ **

 

“Is that?” Persephone trails off looking at hades.

 

“Yes that’s the entrance to tartarus,” Hades replies grimly.

 

Apollo looks discreetly at Annabeth and Percy. He had only seen glimpses but what he had seen, they didn’t deserve to go through.

 

**_Gray mist creatures churned all around me, whispering rags of smoke that I somehow knew were the spirits of the dead. They tugged at my clothes, trying to pull me back,_ **

 

“Not all ghosts try to harm people,” Persephone says smiling.

 

**_but I felt compelled to walk forward to the very edge_ **

**_of the chasm. Looking down made me dizzy._ **

 

**_The pit yawned so wide and was so completely black, I knew it must be bottomless. Yet I had a feeling that some-thing was trying to rise from the abyss, something huge and evil._ **

 

“Kronos,” Athena said grimly.

 

**_The little hero, an amused voice echoed far down in the darkness. Too weak, too young, but perhaps you will do._ **

**_The voice felt ancient-cold and heavy. It wrapped around me like sheets of lead._ **

**_They have misled you, boy, it said. Barter with me. I will give you what you want._ **

 

“He recruited so many demigods by exploiting the resentment of feeling abandoned by us. It is our fault that so many demigods will die in this war against Kronos,” Aphrodite says frowning.

 

**_A shimmering image hovered over the void: my mother, frozen at the moment she'd dissolved in a shower of gold. Her face was distorted with pain, as if the Minotaur were still squeezing her neck. Her eyes looked directly at me, pleading: Go! I tried to cry out, but my voice wouldn't work._ **

 

“How dare he use a mother against a child. In fact, how dare you do it also?” Aphrodite asks Hades angrily.

 

Hades looks away from her shrugging, “I wasn’t thinking right.”

 

**_Cold laughter echoed from the chasm. An invisible force pulled me forward. It would drag me into the pit unless I stood firm. Help me rise, boy. The voice became hungrier. Bring me the bolt._ **

 

“In hindsight, that should’ve been a clue that Hades didn’t take the blot,” Annabeth says.

 

**_Strike a blow against the treacherous gods!_ **

 

**_The spirits of the dead whispered around me, No! Wake!_ **

 

“Wouldn’t those spirits be from the fields of punishment?” Hera asked.

 

“Even the worst of spirits fear kronos,” Persephone replies.

 

**_The image of my mother began to fade. The thing in the pit tightened its unseen grip around me. I realized it wasn't interested in pulling me in. It was using me to pull itself out. Good, it murmured. Good._ **

 

“Was that because it was working or because you realised it?” Annabeth asks shakingly.

 

“I don’t know but it was most likely the first one,” Percy replies.

 

**_Wake! the dead whispered. Wake! Someone was shaking me. My eyes opened, and it was daylight._ **

 

“Well so much for taking watch,” Percy says chuckling ruefully.

 

“Demigod dreams, you were dead to the world,” Annabeth said.

 

**_"Well," Annabeth said, "the zombie lives."_ **

 

**_I was trembling from the dream. I could still feel the grip of the chasm monster around my chest. "How long was I asleep?"_ **

 

**_"Long enough for me to cook breakfast." Annabeth tossed me a bag of nacho-flavored corn chips from Aunty Em's snack bar._ **

 

“Why are you still calling her aunty em?” Leo asks.

 

“Names have power,” Nico replies.

 

**_"And Grover went exploring. Look, he found a friend."_ **

 

**_My eyes had trouble focusing. Grover was sitting cross-legged on a blanket with something fuzzy in his lap, a dirty, unnaturally pink stuffed animal. No. It wasn't a stuffed animal. It was a pink poodle._ **

 

**_The poodle yapped at me suspiciously. Grover said, "No, he's not."_ **

 

“You never did tell me what he said,” Percy tells Grover who shrugs.

 

**_I blinked. "Are you ... talking to that thing?" The poodle growled._ **

 

“Satyrs can talk to animals which can be very useful at times,” Annabeth says shrugging.

 

**_"This thing," Grover warned, "is our ticket west. Be nice to him."_ **

 

**_"You can talk to animals?"_ **

 

**_Grover ignored the question. "Percy, meet Gladiola. Gladiola, Percy."_ **

 

**_I stared at Annabeth, figuring she'd crack up at this practical joke they were playing on me, but she looked deadly serious._ **

**_"I'm not saying hello to a pink poodle," I said. "Forget it."_ **

**_"Percy," Annabeth said. "I said hello to the poodle. You say hello to the poodle."_ **

**_The poodle growled._ **

 

**_I said hello to the poodle._ **

 

Several people laughed, breaking the tension that had settled since Percy’s nightmare.

 

**_Grover explained that he'd come across Gladiola in the woods and they'd struck up a conversation. The poodle had run away from a rich local family, who'd posted a $200 reward for his return._ **

 

“$200 wouldn’t have gotten you very far,” Athena said frowning.

 

“We were young and naive,” Annabeth replies.

 

**_Gladiola didn't really want to go back to his family, but he was willing to if it meant helping Grover._ **

 

**_"How does Gladiola know about the reward?" I asked._ **

 

**_"He read the signs," Grover said. "Duh."_ **

 

**_"Of course," I said. "Silly me."_ **

 

**_"So we turn in Gladiola," Annabeth explained in her best strategy voice, "we get money, and we buy tickets to Los Angeles. Simple."_ **

 

**_I thought about my dream-the whispering voices of the dead, the thing in the chasm, and my mother's face, shimmering as it dissolved into gold. All that might be waiting for me in the West._ **

 

“It was bad but didn’t have a choice,” Percy said grimly.

 

**_"Not another bus," I said warily._ **

 

**_"No," Annabeth agreed._ **

 

**_She pointed downhill, toward train tracks I hadn't been able to see last night in the dark. "There's an Amtrak station half a mile that way. According to Gladiola, the west-bound train leaves at noon."_ **

 

“Good that can get you about halfway there maybe a bit more,” Apollo says. “Also that’s the end of the chapter.”


	14. Let's jump off this arch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Thank you to everyone who replied to the questions. I have decided that they will read all the books. Someone mentioned that I should bring in other characters that also play an important role in the other books. I will certainly be doing that. I will bring them in when they start to play an important role in the timeline. For example clarisse plays a Big role in book 2 so she'll appear at the reading of book two. Now, as for a discord server I now have that up thankfully. It has no bots or anything like that because this girl here don't know how to do that. My name, or what I go by, is either Katy or Sophia. Katy because it's my nickname and Sophia because it's my middle name. The discord invite is https://discord.gg/wNHF3Pn. It is currently still in development so I would really appreciate all the help I can get to continue developing it. Thank you all so much for your support I really appreciate it!

"Here you go sis you can figure out how far it gets them," Apollo says handing the book to Artemis without warning. Artemis glares at him but in the end sighs and flips to the next chapter. 

  
  


**_13 I PLUNGE TO_ **

**_MY DEATH_ **

 

"Ah this day," Percy mutters nodding. 

 

Poseidon has to look at Percy to reassure himself that his son is well and alive. Once he did he turns to Hades in anger. Hades raises his hands in surrender.

 

"It's in the past and I thought he had stolen my helm of darkness!" He says quickly and looking apologetic. Poseidon glares at him but nods and does nothing. 

 

**_We spent two days on the Amtrak train, heading west through hills, over rivers, past amber waves of grain. We weren't attacked once, but I didn't relax._ **

 

"None of us did. We were so on edge," Annabeth said. 

 

**_I felt that we were traveling around in a display case, being watched from above and maybe from below, that something was waiting for the right opportunity._ **

 

"I was probably being paranoid," Percy mutters.

 

"Every demigod is after a while I think," Thalia says shrugging. Why wouldn't they be after all. 

 

**_I tried to keep a low profile because my name and pic-ture were splattered over the front pages of several East Coast newspapers. The Trenton Register-News showed a photo taken by a tourist as I got_ **

**_off the Greyhound bus. I had a wild look in my eyes. My sword was a metallic blur in my hands. It might've been a baseball bat or a lacrosse stick._ **

 

"Who uses lacrosse sticks?" Nico asks a bit amused.

 

"Lacrosse players," Leo replies shrugging.

 

"I meant as a weapon."

 

"Lacrosse players who've been unexpectedly attacked," Leo says chuckling and Nico just looks amused. 

  
  


**_The picture's caption read:_ **

**_Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson, wanted for questioning in the Long Island disappearance of his mother_ **

**_two weeks ago, is shown here fleeing from the bus where he accosted several elderly female passengers._ **

 

Nico snorted. "Yeah they were terrified Percy how could you?" 

 

**_The bus exploded on an east New Jersey roadside shortly after Jackson fled the scene. Based on eyewitness accounts, police believe the boy may be traveling with two teenage accomplices. His stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, has offered a cash reward for information leading to his capture._ **

 

"I am going to make that bastard suffer," Poseidon grumbles angrily. Percy just frowns a bit at the mention of his ex stepfather. 

 

**_"Don't worry," Annabeth told me. "Mortal police could never find us." But she didn't sound so sure._ **

 

"I wasn't," she admits. "I was hoping that saying it would make it true. 

 

**_The rest of the day I spent alternately pacing the length of the train (because I had a really hard time sitting still) or looking out the windows.Once, I spotted a family of centaurs galloping across a wheat field, bows at the ready, as they hunted_ **

**_lunch. The lit-tle boy centaur, who was the size of a second-grader on a pony, caught my eye and waved. I looked around the pas-senger car, but nobody else had noticed._ **

 

"That would be the mist," Apollo says. "I'm actually surprised you saw them. Very few people- even demigods- would ever see a young centaur. They are guarded fiercely."

 

"Maybe they didn't expect to see demigods on the train," Leo says.

 

**_The adult riders all had their faces_ **

**_buried in laptop computers or magazines._ **

 

"Then again maybe it wasn't just the mist," Apollo says sighing. 

 

**_Another time, toward evening, I saw something huge moving through the woods. I could've sworn it was a lion, except that lions don't live wild in America, and this thing was the size of a Hummer. Its fur_ **

**_glinted gold in the evening light. Then it leaped through the trees and was gone._ **

 

"Was that the nemean lion?" Artemis asks.

 

"I think so," Percy replied shrugging not really being certain it was. 

 

**_Our reward money for returning Gladiola the poodle had only been enough to purchase tickets as far as Denver._ **

 

"So I wasn't that far off, that's just over halfway." 

 

**_We couldn't get berths in the sleeper car, so we dozed in our seats. My neck got stiff. I tried not to drool in my sleep, since Annabeth was sitting right next to me._ **

 

"You failed a bit," she says chuckling and Percy blushes a bit. 

 

**_Grover kept snoring and bleating and waking me up. Once, he shuffled around and his fake foot fell off. Annabeth and I had to stick it back on before any of the other passengers noticed._ **

 

"I don't think they would've noticed anyways," Artemis says shrugging. 

 

**_"So," Annabeth asked me, once we'd gotten Grover's sneaker readjusted. "Who wants your help?"_ **

**_"What do you mean?"_ **

**_"When you were asleep just now, you mumbled, 'I won't help you.' Who were you dreaming about?"_ **

 

"Thank goodness you sleep talk or I don't think we would've found out." 

 

**_I was reluctant to say anything. It was the second time I'd dreamed about the evil voice from the pit. But it bothered me so much I finally told her.Annabeth was quiet for a long time. "That doesn't sound like Hades._ **

 

"Yeah that it doesn't because it wasn't me," Hades says frowning. 

  
  


**_He always appears on a black throne, and he never laughs."_ **

**_"He offered my mother in trade. Who else could do that?"_ **

**_"I guess ... if he meant, 'Help me rise from the Underworld.' If he wants war with the Olympians. But why ask you to bring him the master bolt if he already has it?"_ **

 

"Because I wasn't looking for that," Hades grumbles. 

 

**_I shook my head, wishing I knew the answer. I thought about what Grover had told me, that the Furies on the bus seemed to have been looking for something._ **

 

"We had so many clues and I didn't put it together," Annabeth mutters quietly. 

 

**_Where is it? Where?_ **

**_Maybe Grover sensed my emotions. He snorted in his sleep, muttered something about vegetables, and_ **

**_turned his head. Annabeth readjusted his cap so it covered his horns. "Percy, you can't barter with Hades. You know that,_ **

**_right? He's deceitful, heartless, and greedy._ **

 

"I'm sorry about that lord Hades," Annabeth says quickly.

 

"It's fine I understand why you felt that way," Hades says sighing. 

  
  


**_I don't care if his Kindly Ones weren't as aggressive this time-"_ **

 

"WHAT!? YOU MEAN THEY CAN GET MORE AGGRESSIVE!" Leo exclaims looking shocked and Annabeth nods. 

 

**_"This time?" I asked. "You mean you've run into them before?"_ **

**_Her hand crept up to her necklace. She fingered a glazed white bead painted with the image of a pine_ **

**_tree, one of her clay end-of-summer tokens. "Let's just say I've got no love for the Lord of the Dead. You can't be tempted to make a deal for your mom."_ **

 

"Yes you can. I've met Sally now and I understand," Annabeth says shrugging. 

 

**_"What would you do if it was your dad?"_ **

**_"That's easy," she said. "I'd leave him to rot."_ **

 

"Now I wouldn't. Our relationship has gotten a bit better," Annabeth says smiling. "And it's thanks to you," she tells Percy smiling. 

 

"Percabeth will happen," Aphrodite mutters quietly. 

  
  


**_"You're not serious?"_ **

**_Annabeth's gray eyes fixed on me. She wore the same expression she'd worn in the woods at camp, the moment she drew her sword against the hellhound. "My dad's resented me since the day I was born, Percy," she said. "He never wanted a baby. When he got me, he asked Athena to take me back and raise me on Olympus because he was too busy with his work._ **

 

Athena sighed sadly, shaking her head. "Annabeth that's actually not what happened. He was worried- of course he was. But he never wanted me to just take you back. He just wanted help. Unfortunately," Athena now turns to glare at Zeus."I wasn't allowed to help."

 

Annabeth looks shocked at this and just swallows nodding, but says nothing. 

  
  


**_She wasn't happy about that. She told him_ **

**_heroes had to be raised by their mortal parent." "But how ... I mean, I guess you weren't born in a hos-pital...."_ **

 

"No offense, lady Athena. But aren't you one of the maiden goddesses?" Piper asks hesitantly.

 

"No offense taken," Athena replies smiling. "Yes I am a maiden goddess. My children are born of intellect. They are brain children- literally." 

 

"Thank you for clearing that up," Piper says smiling. 

 

**_"I appeared on my father's doorstep, in a golden cradle, carried down from Olympus by Zephyr the West Wind. You'd think my dad would remember that as a miracle, right? Like, maybe he'd take some digital_ **

**_photos or some-thing. But he always talked about my arrival as if it were the most inconvenient thing that had ever happened to him. When I was five, he got married and totally forgot about Athena._ **

 

"Also not true. He introduced me to Susan and invited me to their wedding. Unfortunately I couldn't attend. He certainly didn't forget about me."

 

Annabeth is just shocked and confused right now. Most of the things she thought about her dad weren't entirely true. 

 

**_He got a 'regular' mortal wife, and had two 'regu-lar' mortal kids, and tried to pretend I didn't exist."_ **

 

"Looking back, I wonder how much of that was my own paranoia," Annabeth mutters. 

 

**_I stared out the train window. The lights of a sleeping town were drifting by. I wanted to make Annabeth feel better, but I didn't know how._ **

 

"You did just by listening seaweed brain," Annabeth tells him smiling.  

 

**_"My mom married a really awful guy," I told her. "Grover said she did it to protect me, to hide me in the scent of a human family. Maybe that's what your dad was thinking."_ **

**_Annabeth kept worrying at her necklace. She was pinch-ing the gold college ring that hung with the beads. It occurred to me that the ring must be her father's. I wondered why she wore it if she hated him so much._ **

 

"Because you didn't hate him, for the same reason that many of us put up with being used and cast aside. Deep down we all want them to turn around and tell us they're proud and that they love us, at least once," Thalia says briefly looking at Zeus.

 

"Yeah," Annabeth says nodding in agreement. 

 

**_"He doesn't care about me," she said. "His wife-my stepmom-treated me like a freak. She wouldn't let me play with her children. My dad went along with her. Whenever something dangerous happened-you know, something with monsters-they would both look at me resentfully, like, 'How dare you put our family at risk.' Finally, I took the hint. I wasn't wanted. I ran away."_ **

 

"Your stepmother does care about you actually," Percy says and Annabeth goes to say something.

 

"Just hear me out. When I first met her you had been with atlas. She told me to tell you that you always had a home with them no matter what happened."

 

"She said that?"

 

"Almost word for word." 

 

**_"How old were you?"_ **

**_"Same age as when I started camp. Seven."_ **

**_"But ... you couldn't have gotten all the way to Half-Blood Hill by yourself." "Not alone, no. Athena watched over me, guided me toward help. I made a couple of unexpected_ **

**_friends who took care of me, for a short time, anyway."I wanted to ask what happened, but Annabeth seemed lost in sad memories._ **

 

Thalia stand ups and walks over to Annabeth, giving her a big hug. Annabeth smiles and returns the hug. Smiling, Thalia takes a seat next to her. 

 

**_So I listened to the sound of Grover snoring and gazed out the train windows as the dark fields of Ohio raced by.Toward the end of our second day on the train, June 13, eight days before the summer solstice, we passed through some golden hills and over the Mississippi River into St. Louis. Annabeth craned her neck to see the Gateway Arch, which looked to me like a huge shopping bag handle stuck on the city._ **

 

"Percy!" Annabeth protested looking amused.

 

"Sorry but that's what it looked like," Percy said laughing. 

 

**_"I want to do that," she sighed._ **

**_"What?" I asked._ **

**_"Build something like that. You ever see the Parthenon, Percy?"_ **

**_"Only in pictures."_ **

**_"Someday, I'm going to see it in person. I'm going to build the greatest monument to the gods, ever._ **

**_Something that'll last a thousand years."_ **

**_I laughed. "You? An architect?"_ **

**_I don't know why, but I found it funny. Just the idea of Annabeth trying to sit quietly and draw all day._ **

 

"Sorry Percy, my reaction was out of line."

 

"It's alright wise girl." 

 

**_Her cheeks flushed. "Yes, an architect. Athena expects her children to create things, not just tear them down, like a certain god of earthquakes I could mention." I watched the churning brown water of the Mississippi below._ **

**_"Sorry," Annabeth said. "That was mean."_ **

 

"Yes it was," Thalia agreed. 

 

**_"Can't we work together a little?" I pleaded. "I mean, didn't Athena and Poseidon ever cooperate?"_ **

 

"They did, for the chariot," Aphrodite replies shrugging. 

 

**_Annabeth had to think about it. "I guess ... the chariot," she said tentatively. "My mom invented it, but Poseidon created horses out of the crests of waves. So they had to work together to make it complete."_ **

**_"Then we can cooperate, too. Right?"_ **

 

"Yes and you both make a great team," Nico says. 

 

**_We rode into the city, Annabeth watching as the Arch disappeared behind a hotel._ **

**_"I suppose," she said at last._ **

**_We pulled into the Amtrak station downtown. The intercom told us we'd have a three-hour layover before departing for Denver._ **

 

"And I'm guessing Annabeth wanted to go sightseeing," Thalia says and Percy nods. 

  
  


**_Grover stretched. Before he was even fully awake, he said, "Food."_ **

**_"Come on, goat boy," Annabeth said. "Sightseeing."_ **

**_"Sightseeing?"_ **

**_"The Gateway Arch," she said. "This may be my only chance to ride to the top. Are you coming or not?" Grover and I exchanged looks. I wanted to say no, but I figured that if Annabeth was going, we couldn't very well let her go alone._ **

 

"Yes or I wouldn't have forgiven you is something happened to her seat spawn."

  
  


**_Grover shrugged. "As long as there's a snack bar with-out monsters."_ **

 

"You jinxed it," Leo says sighing dramatically. 

 

**_The Arch was about a mile from the train station. Late in the day the lines to get in weren't that long. We threaded our way through the underground museum, looking at covered wagons and other junk from the 1800s. It wasn't all that thrilling,_ **

 

"Percy!" Annabeth protested. 

 

**_but Annabeth kept telling us interesting facts about how the Arch was built,_ **

 

"It really is interesting," Annabeth mutters. 

 

**_and Grover kept passing me jelly beans, so I was okay.I kept looking around, though, at the other people in line. "You smell anything?" I murmured to Grover._ **

 

"He won't," Hermes said, frowning. "Not there." 

 

**_He took his nose out of the jelly-bean bag long enough to sniff. "Underground," he said distastefully. "Under-ground air always smells like monsters._ **

 

"That's why satyrs don't like being underground," Grover explained. 

 

**_Probably doesn't mean anything."_ **

 

"Not a presumption you ever want to make," Athena mutters. 

 

**_But something felt wrong to me. I had a feeling we shouldn't be here._ **

 

"You should always listen to your gut when it tells you something isn't right," Thalia mutters. 

 

**_"Guys," I said. "You know the gods' symbols of power?"_ **

**_Annabeth had been in the middle of reading about the construction equipment used to build the Arch, but she looked over. "Yeah?"_ **

**_"Well, Hade-"_ **

**_Grover cleared his throat. "We're in a public place.... You mean, our friend downstairs?"_ **

 

"Well I guess I'll let that go. You could've said something worse," Hades mutters. 

 

**_"Um, right," I said. "Our friend way downstairs. Doesn't he have a hat like Annabeth's?"_ **

 

"At that time I didn't have it," Hades mutters angrily. 

 

**_"You mean the Helm of Darkness," Annabeth said. "Yeah, that's his symbol of power. I saw it next to his seat during the winter solstice council meeting."_ **

**_"He was there?" I asked._ **

 

"The only time I was allowed to visit home. Despite doing nothing to them," Hades says frowning. 

 

**_She nodded. "It's the only time he's allowed to visit Olympus-the darkest day of the year. But his helm is a lot more powerful than my invisibility hat, if what I've heard is true...."_ **

**_"It allows him to become darkness," Grover confirmed. "He can melt into shadow or pass through walls. He can't be touched, or seen, or heard. And he can radiate fear so intense it can drive you insane or stop_ **

**_your heart. Why do you think all rational creatures fear the dark?"_ **

 

"That's actually kind of terrifying," Piper mutters. 

 

**_"But then ... how do we know he's not here right now, watching us?" I asked._ **

**_Annabeth and Grover exchanged looks._ **

**_"We don't," Grover said._ **

**_"Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better," I said. "Got any blue jelly beans left?"_ **

**_I'd almost mastered my jumpy nerves when I saw the tiny little elevator car we were going to ride to the top of the Arch, and I knew I was in trouble. I hate confined places. They make me nuts._ **

 

"That's the same for most Demigods," Annabeth says. 

 

**_We got shoehorned into the car with this big fat lady and her dog, a Chihuahua with a rhinestone collar._ **

 

"They allow dogs there?" Leo asks confused.

 

"They don't," Percy replies frowning. 

 

**_I figured maybe the dog was a seeing-eye Chihuahua, because none of the guards said a word about it._ **

 

"They probably couldn't see which makes it a monster. But which one?" Reyna mutters to herself. 

 

**_We started going up, inside the Arch. I'd never been in an elevator that went in a curve, and my stomach wasn't too happy about it._ **

**_"No parents?" the fat lady asked us._ **

**_She had beady eyes; pointy, coffee-stained teeth; a floppy denim hat, and a denim dress that bulged so much, she looked like a blue-jean blimp._ **

**_"They're below," Annabeth told her. "Scared of heights."_ **

 

"Better than Percy's circus caravan story," Nico says amused.

 

"Oh shut up," Percy mutters playfully pouting. Nico just chuckles in amusement 

 

**_"Oh, the poor darlings."_ **

**_The Chihuahua growled. The woman said, "Now, now, sonny. Behave." The dog had beady eyes like its owner, intelligent and vicious._ **

 

"My daughter could've gotten hurt," Athena says glaring at Zeus. 

 

**_I said, "Sonny. Is that his name?"_ **

**_"No," the lady told me._ **

**_She smiled, as if that cleared everything up._ **

 

"Of all the ways you could have handled things you had to send her," Hera says sighing. 

 

**_At the top of the Arch, the observation deck reminded me of a tin can with carpeting. Rows of tiny windows looked out over the city on one side and the river on the other. The view was okay, but if there's anything I like less than a confined space, it's a confined space six hundred feet in the air. I was ready to go pretty quick._ **

 

"You fell from the arch," Thalia says looking at Percy shocked.

 

"Jumped actually," Percy says shrugging.

 

"And he'll fall from higher areas," Apollo mutters quietly so that no one hears him. 

  
  


**_Annabeth kept talking about structural supports, and how she would've made the windows bigger, and designed a see-through floor. She probably could've stayed up there for hours,_ **

 

"Yup," Annabeth replies shrugging. 

 

**_but luckily for me the park ranger announced that the observation deck would be closing in a few minutes. I steered Grover and Annabeth toward the exit, loaded them into the elevator, and I was about to get in_ **

**_myself when I realized there were already two other tourists inside. No room for me._ **

 

"You should've waited together," Poseidon says anxiously. He's worried about Percy despite knowing that he was well and alive. 

  
  


**_The park ranger said, "Next car, sir."_ **

**_"We'll get out," Annabeth said. "We'll wait with you."_ **

**_But that was going to mess everybody up and take even more time, so I said, "Naw, it's okay. I'll see you guys at the bottom."_ **

**_Grover and Annabeth both looked nervous, but they let the elevator door slide shut._ **

 

Athena was relieved that her daughter hadn't been there for the fight but said nothing. 

 

**_Their car disappeared down the ramp._ **

**_Now the only people left on the observation deck were me, a little boy with his parents, the park ranger, and the fat lady with her Chihuahua._ **

**_I smiled uneasily at the fat lady. She smiled back, her forked tongue flickering between her teeth._ **

 

Poseidon glares at Zeus but says nothing. 

  
  


**_Wait a minute._ **

**_Forked tongue?_ **

 

"Well better late than never," Thalia said looking worried. 

 

**_Before I could decide if I'd really seen that, her Chihuahua jumped down and started yapping at me. "Now, now, sonny," the lady said. "Does this look like a good time? We have all these nice people here." "Doggie!" said the little boy. "Look, a doggie!"_ **

**_His parents pulled him back._ **

**_The Chihuahua bared his teeth at me, foam dripping from his black lips._ **

**_"Well, son," the fat lady sighed. "If you insist."Ice started forming in my stomach. "Urn, did you just call that Chihuahua your son?"_ **

**_"Chimera, dear," the fat lady corrected. "Not a Chihuahua. It's an easy mistake to make."_ **

**_She rolled up her denim sleeves, revealing that the skin of her arms was scaly and green. When she smiled, I saw that her teeth were fangs. The pupils of her eyes were side-ways slits, like a reptile's._ **

**_The Chihuahua barked louder, and with each bark, it grew. First to the size of a Doberman, then to a lion. The bark became a roar._ **

**_The little boy screamed._ **

  
  


"That poor dear," Aphrodite says sighing. "Was he alright?"

 

"He was well," Annabeth replies. 

 

**_His parents pulled him back toward the exit, straight into the park ranger, who stood, paralyzed, gaping at the monster._ **

**_The Chimera was now so tall its back rubbed against the roof. It had the head of a lion with a blood-caked mane, the body and hooves of a giant goat, and a serpent for a tail, a ten-foot-long diamondback growing right out of its shaggy behind. The rhinestone dog collar still hung around its neck, and the plate-sized dog tag was now easy to read: CHIMERA-RABID, FIRE-BREATHING, POISONOUS-IF FOUND,_ **

**_PLEASE CALL TARTARUS-EXT. 954._ **

**_I realized I hadn't even uncapped my sword._ **

 

"It's understandable, you were in shock after all. And you weren't used to fighting monsters yet," Hestia days smiling gently. 

 

**_My hands were numb. I was ten feet away from the Chimera's bloody maw, and I knew that as soon as I moved, the creature would lunge.  The snake lady made a hissing noise that might've been laughter. "Be honored, Percy Jackson. Lord Zeus rarely allows me to test a hero with one of my brood._ **

 

"You shouldn't have been testing any of them!" Hera snapped. "They're children!" 

 

Some of the demigods look shocked when she snaps at Zeus on their behalf. She noticed this and sighed.

 

"I may not liked Demigods but they're still family. Also you were children you don't deserve that." The demigods just stayed quiet not knowing what to say. 

  
  


**_For I am the Mother of Monsters, the terrible_ **

**_Echidna!"_ **

**_I stared at her. All I could think to say was: "Isn't that a kind of anteater?"_ **

 

"I should've known you would say that," Thalia says shaking her head amused. 

 

**_She howled, her reptilian face turning brown and green with rage. "I hate it when people say that! I hate Australia! Naming that ridiculous animal after me. For that, Percy Jackson, my son shall destroy you!"_ **

**_The Chimera charged, its lion teeth gnashing. I managed to leap aside and dodge the bite._ **

 

This that knew and cared for Percy were worried despite knowing that he was well and alive. 

 

**_I ended up next to the family and the park ranger, who were all screaming now, trying to pry open the emergency exit doors._ **

**_I couldn't let them get hurt._ **

 

"Of course you couldn't," Thalia mutters gnawing in her lower lip. 

 

**_I uncapped my sword, ran to the other side of the deck, and yelled, "Hey, Chihuahua!" The Chimera turned faster than I would've thought possible._ **

**_Before I could swing my sword, it opened its mouth, emitting a stench like the world's largest barbecue pit, and shot a column of flame straight at me._ **

**_I dove through the explosion. The carpet burst into flames; the heat was so intense, it nearly seared off my eye-brows._ **

**_Where I had been standing a moment before was a ragged hole in the side of the Arch, with melted metal steaming around the edges._ **

 

"Good going Zeus. Thanks to you a national monument was destroyed," Athena says glaring at Zeus. 

 

**_Great, I thought. We just blowtorched a national monument._ **

 

"Wasn't your fault," Nico muttered. 

 

**_Riptide was now a shining bronze blade in my hands, and as the Chimera turned, I slashed at its neck._ **

 

"Bad idea," Thalia says wincing. 

 

**_That was my fatal mistake. The blade sparked harm-lessly off the dog collar. I tried to regain my balance, but I was so worried about defending myself against the fiery lion's mouth, I completely forgot about_ **

**_the serpent tail until it whipped around and sank its fangs into my calf._ **

 

Poseidon by this point was full on glaring at Zeus and gripping the edge of his seat. 

 

**_My whole leg was on fire. I tried to jab Riptide into the Chimera's mouth, but the serpent tail wrapped around my ankles and pulled me off balance, and my blade flew out of my hand, spinning out of the hole in the Arch and down toward the Mississippi River._ **

 

"Jump," Aphrodite says. "Just jump she'll let the mortal be," she mutters worriedly. 

 

**_I managed to get to my feet, but I knew I had lost. I was weaponless. I could feel deadly poison racing up to my chest. I remembered Chiron saying that Anaklusmos would always return to me,_ **

 

"It would've taken time that you didn't have," Hermes mutters. 

 

**_but there was no pen in my pocket. Maybe it had fallen too far away. Maybe it only returned when it was in pen form. I didn't know, and I wasn't going to live long enough to figure it out. I backed into the hole in the wall. The Chimera advanced, growling, smoke curling from its lips. The snake lady, Echidna, cackled. "They don't make heroes like they used to, eh, son?"_ **

 

"For your age and experience, you were doing just fine," Hestia tells Percy smiling. 

 

**_The monster growled. It seemed in no hurry to finish me off now that I was beaten._ **

 

"Yeah most of them are like that," Thalia muttered darkly. 

 

**_I glanced at the park ranger and the family. The little boy was hiding behind his father's legs. I had to protect these people. I couldn't just ... die. I tried to think, but my whole body was on fire. My head felt dizzy. I had no sword. I was facing a massive, fire-breathing monster and its mother. And I was scared._ **

 

"I don't blame you," Piper says shuddering. 

 

**_There was no place else to go, so I stepped to the edge of the hole. Far, far below, the river glittered.If I died, would the monsters go away? Would they leave the humans alone?_ **

**_"If you are the son of Poseidon," Echidna hissed,_ **

 

"If?" Hermes snorted. "Have you seen the kid?" 

 

**_"you would not fear water. Jump, Percy Jackson. Show me that water will not harm you. Jump and retrieve your sword. Prove your bloodline." Yeah, right, I thought. I'd read somewhere that jumping into water from a couple of stories up was like jumping onto solid asphalt. From here, I'd splatter on impact._ **

 

"Not for a child of the sea," Poseidon mutters. 

  
  


**_The Chimera's mouth glowed red, heating up for an-other blast._ **

**_"You have no faith," Echidna told me. "You do not trust the gods. I cannot blame you, little coward. Better you die now. The gods are faithless. The poison is in your heart."_ **

 

"How dare she!?" Zeus growled.

 

"Oh that's what you're upset about!?" Hestia exclaims glaring at Zeus. 

  
  


**_She was right: I was dying. I could feel my breath slow-ing down. Nobody could save me, not even the gods._ **

**_I backed up and looked down at the water. I remem-bered the warm glow of my father's smile when I was a baby. He must have seen me. He must have visited me when I was in my cradle._ **

 

"I did," Poseidon said quietly. 

 

**_I remembered the swirling green trident that had appeared above my head the night of capture the flag, when Poseidon had claimed me as his son.But this wasn't the sea. This was the Mississippi, dead center of the USA. There was no Sea God here._ **

 

"No but those who love there respect him," Athena says shrugging. 

  
  


**_"Die, faithless one," Echidna rasped, and the Chimera sent a column of flame toward my face._ **

**_"Father, help me," I prayed._ **

**_I turned and jumped. My clothes on fire, poison cours-ing through my veins, I plummeted toward the river._ **

 

"Why'd you stop!?" Most demigods exclaimed.

 

"That's the end of the chapter." 


	15. Yay Percy Survived

**Hello my wonderful readers! i hope everything is going well. As always enjoy and remember that Rick Riordan owns Percy Jackson.**

"I'll read next," Hestia says and she is quickly handed the book.

_**14 I BECOME A** _

_**KNOWN FUGITIVE** _

"That's probably not a good career choice percy," Leo jokes and Percy shakes his head looking amused.

_**I'd love to tell you I had some deep revelation on my way down, that I came to terms with my own mortality, laughed in the face of death, et cetera.** _

"I don't think people can ever come to terms with their own mortality," Reyna says. "Sure you can kid yourself saying that you are but when you're close to death you realize what you're leaving behind and then you don't want to die."

_**The truth? My only thought was: Aaaaggghhhhh!** _

Many demigods laughed, relieved that the tone of the book seemed to have turned back to a lighter tone. Even if percy was plummeting over six hundred feet down.

_**The river raced toward me at the speed of a truck. Wind ripped the breath from my lungs. Steeples and skyscrapers and bridges tumbled in and out of my vision.** _

_**And then: Flaaa-boooom! A whiteout of bubbles. I sank through the murk, sure that I was about to end up embedded in a hundred** _

_**feet of mud and lost forever. But my impact with the water hadn't hurt.** _

"Of course it didn't. You're my son after all," Poseidon tells im smiling.

_**I was falling slowly now, bubbles trickling up through my fingers. I settled on the river bottom soundlessly. A catfish the size of my stepfather lurched away into the gloom. Clouds of silt and disgusting garbage-beer bottles, old shoes, plastic bags-swirled up all** _

_**around me.** _

"That's horrible," Piper says frowning.

"You mortals are polluting the earth so much," Demeter says also frowning.

_**At that point, I realized a few things: first, I had not been flattened into a pancake. I had not been barbecued. I couldn't even feel the Chimera poison boiling in my veins anymore. I was alive, which was good.** _

"Talk about stating the obvious," Thalia mutters.

_**Second realization: I wasn't wet. I mean, I could feel the coolness of the water. I could see where the fire on my clothes had been quenched. But when I touched my own shirt, it felt perfectly dry.** _

"That is very cool," Leo says smiling.

_**I looked at the garbage floating by and snatched an old cigarette lighter.** _

_**No way, I thought.I flicked the lighter. It sparked. A tiny flame appeared, right there at the bottom of the Mississippi.** _

"That is very awesome." Leo adds.

_**I grabbed a soggy hamburger wrapper out of the cur-rent and immediately the paper turned dry. I lit it with no problem. As soon as I let it go, the flames sputtered out. The wrapper turned back into a slimy rag. Weird.** _

"So you can affect everything around you?" Hazel asks curiously.

Pecr nods in response.

_**But the strangest thought occurred to me only last: I was breathing. I was underwater, and I was breathing normally.** _

"Of course that's the last thing you think off," Nico mutters.

_**I stood up, thigh-deep in mud. My legs felt shaky. My hands trembled. I should've been dead. The fact that I wasn't seemed like ... well, a miracle. I imagined a woman's voice, a voice that sounded a bit like my mother: Percy, what do you say?** _

_**"Um ... thanks." Underwater, I sounded like I did on recordings, like a much older kid. "Thank you ... Father."** _

"I didn't reply," Poseidon says glumly.

_**No response. Just the dark drift of garbage downriver, the enormous catfish gliding by, the flash of sunset on the water's surface far above, turning everything the color of butterscotch. Why had Poseidon saved me?** _

"I would ask why you had to ask, but i've now come to see how easy it is for our children to feel abandoned by us," Athena says sighing.

_**The more I thought about it, the more ashamed I felt. So I'd gotten lucky a** _

_**few times before. Against a thing like the Chimera, I had never stood a chance. Those poor people in the Arch were probably toast. I couldn't protect them. I was no hero. Maybe I should just stay down here with the catfish, join the bottom feeders.** _

"The problem about being a hero is that you always want to save everyone but you can't," Frank mutters.

_**Fump-fump-fump. A riverboat's paddlewheel churned above me, swirling the silt around.** _

_**There, not five feet in front of me, was my sword, its gleaming bronze hilt sticking up in the mud.I heard that woman's voice again: Percy, take the sword. Your father believes in you.** _

"Poseidon," Zeus began.

""I'm not breaking any rules," Poseidon said a glint in his eye. "I'm not allowed to help Percy. There's nothing that says I can't send someone in my steed."

_**This time, I knew the voice wasn't in my head. I wasn't imagining it. Her words seemed to come from everywhere, rippling through the water like dolphin sonar.** _

_**"Where are you?" I called aloud.** _

_**Then, through the gloom, I saw her-a woman the color of the water, a ghost in the current, floating just above the sword. She had long billowing hair, and her eyes, barely visible, were green like mine.** _

_**A lump formed in my throat. I said, "Mom?"** _

_**No, child, only a messenger, though your mother's fate is not as hopeless as you believe. Go to the beach in Santa Monica.** _

"Poseidon-"

"Oh give it a rest," Hera says shaking her head.

_**"What?" It is your father's will. Before you descend into the Underworld, you must go to Santa Monica. Please, Percy, I cannot stay long. The river here is too foul for my presence.** _

_**"But ..." I was sure this woman was my mother, or a vision of her, anyway. "Who-how did you-"** _

_**There was so much I wanted to ask, the words jammed up in my throat.** _

_**I cannot stay, brave one, the woman said. She reached out, and I felt the current brush my face like a caress. You must go to Santa Monica! And, Percy, do not trust the gifts...** _

_**Her voice faded.** _

"Yeah what gifts?" Leo mutters. He didn't ask the question louder as he was sure it would be answered sooner or later.

_**"Gifts?" I asked. "What gifts? Wait!"** _

"She won't be able to stay," Poseidon said sadly. "There was a time when she could've stayed happily in any body of water in the world, but the pollution has become too strong."

_**She made one more attempt to speak, but the sound was gone. Her image melted away. If it was my mother, I had lost her again.** _

Annabeth gives Percy a brief hug.

"They love each other and I can sense that it will grow into a beautiful love," Aphrodite says quietly and smiling.

_**I felt like drowning myself. The only problem: I was immune to drowning.** _

_**Your father believes in you, she had said. She'd also called me brave ... unless she was talking to the catfish.** _

Mostly everyone sniggered at that.

_**I waded toward Riptide and grabbed it by the hilt. The Chimera might still be up there with its snaky, fat mother, waiting to finish me off. At the very least, the mortal police would be arriving, trying to figure out who had blown a hole in the Arch. If they found me, they'd have some questions.** _

"Yup," Annabeth says popping the P.

_**I capped my sword, stuck the ballpoint pen in my pocket. "Thank you, Father," I said again to the dark I kicked up through the muck and swam for the surface.** _

_**I came ashore next to a floating McDonald's.** _

"I want some," Nice mutters.

_**A block away, every emergency vehicle in St. Louis was surrounding the Arch. Police helicopters circled overhead.** _

"Be careful. The mist won't hide you," Hestia mutters.

_**The crowd of onlookers reminded me of Times Square on New Year's Eve.** _

_**A little girl said, "Mama! That boy walked out of the river."** _

"Uh oh," Leo says but Nico shakes his head.

"Adults never listen to children."

_**"That's nice, dear," her mother said, craning her neck to watch the ambulances.** _

"See?"

_**"But he's dry!"** _

_**"That's nice, dear."** _

_**A news lady was talking for the camera: "Probably not a terrorist attack, we're told, but it's still very early in the investigation. The damage, as you can see, is very serious. We're trying to get to some of the survivors, to question them about eyewitness reports of someone falling from the Arch."** _

_**Survivors. I felt a surge of relief. Maybe the park ranger and that family made it out safely. I hoped** _

"They did," Annabeth says.

_**Annabeth and Grover were okay.** _

"We were," Grover added.

_**I tried to push through the crowd to see what was going on inside the police line. "... an adolescent boy," another reporter was saying. "Channel Five has learned that surveillance cameras show an adolescent boy going wild on the observation deck, somehow setting off this freak** _

_**explosion. Hard to believe, John, but that's what we're hearing. Again, no confirmed fatalities ..."** _

Percy sighed shaking his head.

_**I backed away, trying to keep my head down. I had to go a long way around the police perimeter. Uniformed offi-cers and news reporters were everywhere.** _

_**I'd almost lost hope of ever finding Annabeth and Grover when a familiar voice bleated, "Perrr-cy!"** _

_**I turned and got tackled by Grover's bear hug-or goat hug. He said, "We thought you'd gone to Hades the hard way!"** _

_**Annabeth stood behind him, trying to look angry, but even she seemed relieved to see me.** _

"Well of course i was seaweed brain."

_**"We can't leave you alone for five minutes! What happened?"** _

_**"I sort of fell."** _

_**"Percy! Six hundred and thirty feet?"** _

_**Behind us, a cop shouted, "Gangway!" The crowd parted, and a couple of paramedics hustled out, rolling a woman on a stretcher. I recognized her immediately as the mother of the little boy who'd been on the observation deck.** _

"Poor woman," Hestia says frowning.

_**She was saying, "And then this huge dog, this huge fire-breathing Chihuahua-"** _

"Clear sighted. That's not going to be fun for her," Apolo mutters.

_**"Okay, ma'am," the paramedic said. "Just calm down. Your family is fine. The medication is starting to kick in."** _

"Surely giving people medications they don't need is dangerous," Thalia said. "I know they think she's crazy but still."

Apollo thinks quietly about something. "Perhaps it'll work," he mutters quietly.

_**"I'm not crazy! This boy jumped out of the hole and the monster disappeared." Then she saw me.** _

"Leave," Nico said.

_**"There he is! That's the boy!" I turned quickly and pulled Annabeth and Grover after me. We disappeared into the crowd.** _

_**"What's going on?" Annabeth demanded. "Was she talking about the Chihuahua on the elevator?"** _

"We didn't know what had happened up there and we were terrified," Grover says frowning a bit.

_**I told them the whole story of the Chimera, Echidna, my high-dive act, and the underwater lady's message.** _

"How much did he skip over?" Nico asks Annabeth sighing.

"Pretty much everything important. I knew he had been hurt but i didn't know it was that bad."

"I didn;t want to scare you," Percy says shrugging.

_**"Whoa," said Grover. "We've got to get you to Santa Monica! You can't ignore a summons from your dad."** _

"You shouldn't ignore summons from any god," Zeys said.

_**Before Annabeth could respond, we passed another reporter doing a news break, and I almost froze in my tracks when he said, "Percy Jackson.** _

"Don't freeze just keep walking," Hermes said.

_**That's right, Dan. Channel Twelve has learned that the boy who** _

_**may have caused this explosion fits the description of a young man wanted by authorities for a serious New Jersey bus accident three days ago. And the boy is believed to be traveling west. For our viewers at** _

_**home, here is a photo of Percy Jackson."** _

_**We ducked around the news van and slipped into an alley.** _

_**"First things first," I told Grover. "We've got to get out of town!"** _

"Easier said than done," Hestia says worriedly.

_**Somehow, we made it back to the Amtrak station without getting spotted.** _

"How?" Frank asks.

"With difficulty. A lot of ducking and diving," Annabeth replied.

_**We got on board the train just before it pulled out for Denver. The train trundled west as darkness fell, police lights still pulsing against the St. Louis skyline behind us.** _

"That's the end of the chapter," Hestia says.


	16. An sorry!

**Hey everyone sorry i haven't updated yet. i swear i haven't forgotten about te book or given up on it. Im working a project right now, a painting. i dont know ehen ill be finished. perhaps ill share rhe results with you. anyways it might take me a while to update again. that's one reason, the other is that school will be starting for me shortly so yeah getting ready for that. I was planning on working on the chapter sooner but i got ill. then i fell of a chaor and hurt my wrist and leg. im alright now. anyways yeah dorry for the inconveniences.**


	17. Chapter 16: War's shield oh and spiders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to write this chapter my dear readers. I just want you to know that I will now start going back and editing chapters. If edited they will have a bolded word saying EDITED. Anyways without further adu let's get on with the story. As always Rick Riordan owns Percy Jackson.

“So who wants to read next?” Hestia asks smiling.

 

"I can read next," Demeter says shrugging and is handed the book. 

 

**_A GOD BUYS US_ **

**_CHEESEBURGERS_ **

 

"Ah this part," Percy mutters frowning.p

 

**_The next afternoon, June 14, seven days before the solstice, our train rolled into Denver._ **

 

"That's plenty time right?" Leo asks.

 

"Not when you're a demigod. Also something happened to make us have even less time," Annabeth replies frowning. 

 

**_We hadn't eaten since the night before in the dining car, somewhere in Kansas. We hadn't taken a shower since_ **

**_Half-Blood Hill, and I was sure that was obvious._ **

 

"That is simply terrible!" Aprhodite exclaims. 

 

"You need to eat more," Hestia says worriedly.

 

"Should we have dinner after this chapter and then head to bed? It's getting late," Athena suggests. Yes she wanted to finish this story but they also needed sleep. 

 

"I'm sure we can make it through this book. I think there's only seven chapters left," Apollo says. He had been the one to find the books and had flipped through them. 

 

"So how about dinner after the next chapter then?" Hestia suggests.

 

"Sounds good," Athena says nodding and then motions for Demeter to keep reading. 

 

**_"Let's try to contact Chiron," Annabeth said. "I want to tell him about your talk with the river spirit."_ **

 

**_"We can't use phones, right?"_ **

 

**_"I'm not talking about phones."_ **

 

"Iris messaging is great," Thalia says smiling. 

 

"What's that?" Piper asks confused. 

 

"I'm sure the story will explain it," Reyna replies. 

 

**_We wandered through downtown for about half an hour, though I wasn't sure what Annabeth was looking for. The air was dry and hot, which felt weird after the humidity of St. Louis. Everywhere we turned, the Rocky Mountains seemed to be staring at me, like a tidal wave about to crash into the city. Finally we found an empty do-it-yourself car wash._ **

 

"What would you need a car wash for?" Leo asks confused. 

 

"Iris messaging is done through the use of rainbows. They would need to create one," Hades explains. 

 

**_We veered toward the stall farthest from the street, keeping our eyes open for patrol cars. We were three adolescents hang-ing out at a car wash without a car; any cop worth his doughnuts would figure we were up to no good._ **

 

**_"What exactly are we doing?" I asked, as Grover took out the spray gun._ **

 

"That's what I want to know," Piper mutters. 

 

**_"It's seventy-five cents," he grumbled. "I've only got two quarters left. Annabeth?"_ **

 

**_"Don't look at me," she said. "The dining car wiped me out."_ **

 

"There should be a way for Demigods to have access to money when on a quest," Hestia says. Athena thinks about it and nods agreeing writing it down on her notepad. She was still making notes on what needed to change or be done to help their children. 

 

**_I fished out my last bit of change and passed Grover a quarter, which left me two nickels and one drachma from Medusa's place._ **

**_"Excellent," Grover said. "We could do it with a spray bottle, of course, but the connection isn't as good, and my arm gets tired of pumping."_ **

 

"I'm very confused as to what's happening," Leo says.

 

"So was I at the time," Percy tells him. 

 

**_"What are you talking about?"_ **

 

**_He fed in the quarters and set the knob to FINE MIST. "I-M'ing."_ **

 

**_"Instant messaging?"_ **

 

**_"Iris-messaging," Annabeth corrected. "The rainbow god-dess Iris carries messages for the gods. If you know how to ask, and she's not too busy, she'll do the same for half-bloods."_ **

 

"That's really cool. So Iris messaging is kind of like phone calls but for Demigods?" Piper asks curiously. 

 

"Yeah I guess so," Thalia replies. 

 

**_"You summon the goddess with a spray gun?"_ **

 

**_Grover pointed the nozzle in the air and water hissed out in a thick white mist._ **

 

**_"Unless you know an easier way to make a rainbow."_ **

 

"Couldn't Percy have done it?" Hazel asks.

 

"I didn't know what I could and couldn't do at the time," he replies shrugging. 

 

**_Sure enough, late afternoon light filtered through the vapor and broke into colors._ **

**_Annabeth held her palm out to me._ **

 

**_"Drachma, please." I handed it over._ **

**_She raised the coin over her head. "O goddess, accept our offering." She threw the drachma into the rainbow. It disappeared in a golden shimmer._ **

 

**_"Half-Blood Hill," Annabeth requested._ **

 

**_For a moment, nothing happened.Then I was looking through the mist at strawberry fields, and the Long Island Sound in the distance._ **

 

"Do connections ever fail?" Piper asks.

 

"I've never had one fail so far. However I suppose they must fail sometimes," Percy replied shrugging. 

 

**_We seemed to be on the porch of the Big House. Standing with his back to us at the railing was a sandy-haired guy in shorts and an orange tank top. He was holding a bronze sword and seemed to be staring intently at something down in the meadow._ **

 

“Something had to have happened right?" Piper asks. After all why else would this person seem to be on the lookout and holding a sword. 

 

"Yeah something happened," Annabeth says frowning. 

  
  


**_"Luke!" I called._ **

 

**_He turned, eyes wide. I could swear he was standing three feet in front of me through a screen of mist, except I could only see the part of him that appeared in the rainbow._ **

 

"That's really cool," Leo mutters. 

 

**_"Percy!" His scarred face broke into a grin. "Is that Annabeth, too? Thank the gods! Are you guys okay?"_ **

 

**_"We're ... uh ... fine," Annabeth stammered. She was madly straightening her dirty T-shirt, trying to comb the loose hair out of her face._ **

 

Annabeth was blushing by this point but she quickly force herself to stop blushing. 

 

**_"We thought-Chiron-I mean-"_ **

 

**_"He's down at the cabins." Luke's smile faded. "We're having some issues with the campers. Listen, is everything cool with you? Is Grover all right?"_ **

 

"What happened?" Hazel asks curiously.

 

"I'm sure the book will answer that but if it doesn't I'll let you know," Annabeth replies smiling. 

 

**_"I'm right here," Grover called. He held the nozzle out to one side and stepped into Luke's line of vision._ **

 

**_"What kind of issues?"_ **

 

**_Just then a big Lincoln Continental pulled into the car wash with its stereo turned to maximum hip-hop. As the car slid into the next stall, the bass from the subwoofers vibrated so much, it shook the_ **

**_pavement._ **

 

"Well that's not going to allow you to hear him," Reyna says frowning.

 

"It was taken care of," Annabeth says shrugging. 

 

**_"Chiron had to-what's that noise?" Luke yelled._ **

 

**_"I'll take care of it.'" Annabeth yelled back, looking very relieved to have an excuse to get out of sight. "Grover, come on!_ **

 

"Well now that we're reading this I can see how obvious my crush on luke was," Annabeth says frowning slightly. 

 

**_"What?" Grover said. "But-"_ **

 

**_"Give Percy the nozzle and come on!" she ordered._ **

 

**_Grover muttered something about girls being harder to understand than the Oracle at Delphi, then he handed me the spray gun and followed Annabeth._ **

 

"I agree with that and I'm a woman," Piper says chuckling. 

 

**_I readjusted the hose so I could keep the rainbow going and still see Luke._ **

 

**_"Chiron had to break up a fight," Luke shouted to me over the music. "Things are pretty tense here, Percy. Word leaked out about the Zeus-Poseidon standoff. We're still not sure how-probably the same_ **

**_scumbag who sum-moned the hellhound. Now the campers are starting to take sides. It's shaping up like the Trojan War all over again. Aphrodite, Ares, and Apollo are backing Poseidon, more or less. Athena is_ **

**_backing Zeus."_ **

 

"You two need to stop acting like Children and that's coming from me," Apollo tells Poseidon and Athena frowning. "You lose your rationality when it comes to anything to do with each other. Athena you're the goddess of wisdom and are very much not acting like it," he tells them still frowning. By this point Poseidon and Athena are looking at him shocked. "I'm not saying you have to like each other, just tolerate each other and set your differences aside when it comes to making important decisions." 

 

Many people are shocked at Apollo. Their views of him are being put on a whirlwind. Apollo says nothing more simply turning to face the demigods again. He motions for Demeter to keep reading and after a few minutes of hesitation she does. 

 

**_I shuddered to think that Clarisse's cabin would ever be on my dad's side for anything._ **

 

"Generally speaking when Athena's on one side I'm on the other," Ares says surprising everyone by not getting angry. 

 

"Also I knew that Poseidon wouldn't do it. Ask any of his subjects and they tell you that thievery isn't his method and he also doesn't want to be king God,"he adds. Once again everyone is surprised. Seems that every God or goddess here is so far showing that there's more to them then the front they appear to put on. “And there’s another reason why but it would spoil the story.”

 

**_In the next stall, I heard Annabeth and some guy arguing with each other, then the music's volume decreased drastically._ **

 

**_"So what's your status?" Luke asked me. "Chiron will be sorry he missed you."_ **

 

**_I told him pretty much everything, including my dreams._ **

 

“You trusted him a lot didn’t you?” Frank asks curiously. Those that knew luke nodded their heads. “I think I would like to meet him one day,” Frank says smiling. Those that knew luke and know that now he’s a traitor, said nothing.

 

**_It felt so good to see him, to feel like I was back at camp even for a few minutes, that I didn't realize how long I had talked until the beeper went off on the spray machine, and I realized I only had one more minute before the water shut off._ **

 

**_"I wish I could be there," Luke told me. "We can't help much from here, I'm afraid, but listen ... it had to be Hades who took the master bolt. He was there at Olympus at the winter solstice. I was chaperoning a field trip and we saw him."_ **

 

“I’m not happy that I got stuck with the underworld but i wouldn’t start a war. I could care less what goes on up here,” Hades says shrugging.

 

**_"But Chiron said the gods can't take each other's magic items directly."_ **

 

**_"That's true," Luke said, looking troubled. "Still ... Hades has the helm of darkness. How could anybody else sneak into the throne room and steal the master bolt? You'd have to be invisible."_ **

 

**_We were both silent, until Luke seemed to realize what he'd said._ **

 

“It made it seem like he was accusing me,” Annabeth says frowning slightly.

 

**_"Oh, hey," he protested. "I didn't mean Annabeth. She and I have known each other forever. She would never ... I mean, she's like a little sister to me."_ **

 

**_I wondered if Annabeth would like that description._ **

 

“Probably wouldn’t have liked to hear that description at that point,” Annabeth admits shrugging.

 

**_In the stall next to us, the music stopped completely. A man screamed in terror, car doors slammed, and the Lincoln peeled out of the car wash._ **

 

“Let’s just say that you don’t make Annabeth angry,” Grover says chuckling and Annabeth just smiles.

 

**_"You'd better go see what that was," Luke said. "Listen, are you wearing the flying shoes? I'll feel better if I know they've done you some good."_ **

 

**_"Oh ... uh, yeah!" I tried not to sound like a guilty liar. "Yeah, they've come in handy."_ **

  
  


**_"Really?" He grinned. "They fit and everything?"_ **

 

Percy softly sighed sadly, now he knew the real reason Luke was worried about it.

 

**_The water shut off. The mist started to evaporate._ **

 

**_"Well, take care of yourself out there in Denver," Luke called, his voice getting fainter. "And tell Grover it'll be better this time! Nobody will get turned into a pine tree if he just-"_ **

 

“He didn’t?” Annabeth says looking angry. 

 

”How dare he!? Thalia yells looking angry also. 

 

“It’s alright he had every right to  be angry. I’m working on not blaming myself anymore but I can't fault Luke for blaming me,” Grover says shrugging. Neither girl said anything but still looked angry. 

 

Everyone who didn’t know what was being talked about just looked confused. However, they figured that the book would explain it sooner or later so they didn’t ask.

 

**_But the mist was gone, and Luke's image faded to nothing. I was alone in a wet, empty car wash stall.Annabeth and Grover came around the corner, laughing, but stopped when they saw my face._ **

 

**_Annabeth's smile faded. "What happened, Percy? What did Luke say?"_ **

 

**_"Not much," I lied, my stomach feeling as empty as a Big Three cabin. "Come on, let's find some dinner."_ **

 

“I don’t know whether to be thankful or angry that you lied,” Annabeth mutters. 

 

“It’s a good idea to grab some dinner you need your strength,” Hestia tells them smiling softly. 

 

**_A few minutes later, we were sitting at a booth in a gleaming chrome diner. All around us, families were eating burg-ers and drinking malts and sodas._ **

 

**_Finally the waitress came over. She raised her eyebrow skeptically. "Well?"_ **

 

**_I said, "We, um, want to order dinner."_ **

 

**_"You kids have money to pay for it?"_ **

 

**_Grover's lower lip quivered. I was afraid he would start bleating, or worse, start eating the linoleum. Annabeth looked ready to pass out from hunger._ **

 

“This is just reinforcing the idea that we should have a way for our children to have access to money when on quests,” Athena says writing some more notes down on her notepad. Silently she was wondering how it is that they hadn’t decided to help their kids out sooner

 

**_I was trying to think up a sob story for the waitress when a rumble shook the whole building; a motorcycle the size of a baby elephant had pulled up to the curb._ **

 

**_All conversation in the diner stopped. The motorcycle's headlight glared red. Its gas tank had flames painted on it, and a shotgun holster riveted to either side, complete with shotguns. The seat was leather-but leather that looked like ... well, Caucasian human skin._ **

 

“Wait a minute, Ares is helping you!?” Thalia exclaims looking shocked. She had not heard some parts of the adventure that percy had gone through, Ares simply shrugs, smirking.

 

**_The guy on the bike would've made pro wrestlers run for Mama. He was dressed in a red muscle shirt and black jeans and a black leather duster with a hunting knife strapped to his thigh. He wore red wraparound shades, and he had the cruelest, most brutal face I'd ever seen- handsome, I guess, but_ **

**_wicked-with an oily black crew cut and cheeks that were scarred from many, many fights._ **

 

Ares looks surprised when it is ready that Percy guessed he was handsome. Then he simply smirks it's good blackmail material. 

 

**_The weird thing was, I felt like I'd seen his face somewhere before._ **

 

"Almost all my children look like me," Ares says shrugging. 

 

**_As he walked into the diner, a hot, dry wind blew through the place. All the people rose, as if they were hypnotized, but the biker waved his hand dismissively and they all sat down again. Everybody went back to their conversations. The waitress blinked, as if somebody had just pressed the rewind button on her brain._ **

 

"I believe we've talked about this?" Athena tells Ares frowning.

 

"I'm working on it," Ares replies scowling. 

 

**_She asked us again, "You kids have money to pay for it?"_ **

 

**_The biker said, "It's on me." He slid into our booth, which was way too small for him, and crowded Annabeth against the window._ **

 

"Thank you. Don't think we said that," Annabeth tells Ares being polite. Ares simply shrugs and says nothing. 

 

**_He looked up at the waitress, who was gaping at him, and said, "Are you still here?"_ **

**_He pointed at her, and she stiffened. She turned as if she'd been spun around, then marched back toward the kitchen._ **

 

"You could try for some manners," Aphrodite tells Ares sighing. 

 

**_The biker looked at me. I couldn't see his eyes behind the red shades, but bad feelings started boiling in my stomach. Anger, resentment, bitterness. I wanted to hit a wall. I wanted to pick a fight with somebody. Who did this guy think he was?_ **

 

Athena sighs shaking her head. "What's happening?" Piper asks confused.

 

"Ares' presence tends to file people up until they're ready to start a war. Come with him being the God of war and all," Aprodite explains. 

 

**_He gave me a wicked grin. "So you're old Seaweed's kid, huh?"_ **

 

Poseidon frowns but doesn't bother scolding Ares. 

 

"I thought Annabeth came up with the nickname of seaweed brain," Thalia says looking shocked that Ares first said it. 

 

"I had honestly forgotten he called Poseidon that," Annabeth admits. 

 

**_I should've been surprised, or scared, but instead I felt like I was looking at my stepdad, Gabe. I wanted_ **

**_to rip this guy's head off. "What's it to you?"_ **

 

**_Annabeth's eyes flashed me a warning. "Percy, this is-"_ **

 

**_The biker raised his hand. "S'okay," he said. "I don't mind a little attitude. Long as you remember who's the boss._ **

 

"I am," Zeus says and everyone just says nothing. 

 

**_You know who I am, little cousin?"_ **

 

**_Then it struck me why this guy looked familiar. He had the same vicious sneer as some of the kids at Camp Half-Blood, the ones from cabin five._ **

 

**_"You're Clarisse's dad," I said. "Ares, the god of war."_ **

 

"I get the feeling he should've lead with that," Piper says looking worried.

 

"Depends on the God or goddess," Aphrodite tells her smiling. "Some gods or goddesses are perfectly happy with being acknowledged as their children's parent." Aphrodite may not show it often but she does care for her children and their are times when she wishes she could interfere. 

 

"I'm sorry about your father Piper. If I could have done so I would've interfered," Aphrodite tells a shocked looking Piper. "People often forget that I'm the goddess of love which means all types of love. It does hurt me when my children aren't loved," she says looking sad. 

 

Nearly everyone looks at Aphrodite shocked. These books really are making the views of some gods shift. Hestia simply smiles softly and Apollo winks at her discreetly. 

 

**_Ares grinned and took off his shades. Where his eyes should've been, there was only fire, empty sockets glowing with miniature nuclear explosions. "That's right, punk. I heard you broke Clarisse's spear."_ **

 

**_"She was asking for it."_ **

 

**_"Probably. That's cool. I don't fight my kids' fights, you know?_ **

 

"That does not mean I don't care for them so don't you dare think that," Ares tells the gods scowling slightly. 

 

**_What I'm here for-I heard you were in town. I got a little proposition for you."_ **

 

"They already had limited time and you were making them do something," Athena shakes her head sighing.

 

"That's because it's how he works. He helps demigods but in order to not make it seem like he's breaking a rule for the quest he offers them a quest and in return gives them what information or aid he can," Aphrodite says smiling and looking calmly at her nails. Everyone else was just staring at Ares shocked.

 

"What? Surprised that the God of war can help sometimes?" He asks scowling. Demeter decides that it's best to just start reading again. 

 

**_The waitress came back with heaping trays of food-cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings, and chocolate shakes._ **

 

"That sounds delicious," Nico says wanting that right now. 

 

**_Ares handed her a few gold drachmas. She looked nervously at the coins. "But, these aren't..."_ **

 

**_Ares pulled out his huge knife and started cleaning his fingernails. "Problem, sweetheart?"_ **

 

"I think we've gone over this also?" Aphrodite tells Ares raising an eyebrow. "You can't just threaten people with a knife," she says sighing and shaking her head. 

 

**_The waitress swallowed, then left with the gold._ **

 

**_"You can't do that," I told Ares. "You can't just threaten people with a knife."_ **

 

**_Ares laughed. "Are you kidding? I love this country. Best place since Sparta._ **

 

"Of course you would think that," Hephaestus mutters rolling his eyes. 

 

**_Don't you carry a weapon, punk? You should. Dangerous world out there. Which brings me to my proposition. I need you to do me a favor."_ **

 

"Notice how he used the word favor and not quest. When you ask someone for a favor you're expected to pay them back. He was planning on paying them back for the favor," Aphrodite says smiling. She's actually quite happy that these books are helping to shift the views of some gods.

 

"So you've been helping demigods on their quests?" Zeus demands scowling. 

 

"No I've  been giving them quests and then giving them a reward," Ares said rolling his eyes. Zeus nods saying nothing more, however the other gods and demigods are looking at Ares in a bit of a different light. 

 

**_"What favor could I do for a god?"_ **

 

**_"Something a god doesn't have time to do himself. It's nothing much. I left my shield at an abandoned water park here in town. I was going on a little ... date with my girlfriend. We were interrupted. I left my shield behind. I want you to fetch it for me."_ **

 

"A date, at an abandoned water park?" Aphrodite asked raising an eyebrow.

 

"First story that came to my mind that sounded believable," Ares says scowling.

 

"Well of course it did," Demter says scowling.

 

"Contrary to popular belief I actually don't mind that Aphrodite is with Ares," Hephaestus says shocking everyone, but Apollo who just smiles and leans back to enjoy everyone's reactions. 

 

"He knew I didn't love him when Zeus put me with him. He didn't force me to stay with him and instead told me to go after the person I actually loved," Aphrodite says rolling her eyes. She's very relieved that this is finally coming out into the open.

 

"Of course when Aphrodite and me were caught together all three of us were forced to go into an act," Ares says playing with a dagger that he got from who knows where. 

 

"I'm the goddess of love and contrary to popular belief I do hate making others feel sad. Sometimes sadness is necessary for love to progress but I won't interfere unless it's really necessary. If Hephaestus really did love me like Ares does we would've had a long talk," Aphrodite explains looking relieved that she's finally able to say all of this. Seems that reading these books really was a good idea. 

 

"So every time you and Ares were caught by Hephaestus it was just a ploy?" Demeter asks shocked. Aphrodite nods smiling and shrugging. 

 

"But why hide it?" Piper asks confused.

 

"Because some people wouldn't have approved. Love and war can be and is a deadly combination," Aphrodite explains. "However since everyone else is having some of their secrets discovered might as well open up about this. And father you better not try to keep me and Ares apart," Aphrodite directs the last part at an angry looking Zeus.

 

"You may be the king God but let's not forget how powerful I am and can be," Aphrodite said glaring at him. "You think me and my children weak and you couldn't be more wrong. Don't forget that I have the primordial power of uranus running there my veins. That mixed with the power of the waters of Paphos." By this point Aphrodite is glaring at Zeus and radiating power. Zeus scowls but says nothing. Mostly everyone else is looking at Aphrodite shocked.

 

"Piper honey do me a favor and break the stupid stereotypes that children of Aphrodite have," Aphrodite tells Piper smiling softly. "My children can be deadly and people seem to forget that." Piper nods smiling and looking determined. 

 

All the goddesses look shocked but they also look proud. This will teach the gods not to underestimate women. They'll keep the extent of their powers to themselves though. Demter takes the awkward silence as the opportunity to continue reading. 

 

**_"Why don't you go back and get it yourself?"_ **

 

**_The fire in his eye sockets glowed a little hotter._ **

 

**_"Why don't I turn you into a prairie dog and run you over with my Harley? Because I don't feel like it. A god is giving you an opportunity to prove yourself, Percy Jackson. Will you prove yourself a coward?"_ **

 

"If you had done that I would've killed you," Poseidon tells Ares looking deadly calm.

 

"Yeah whatever," Ares says scowling. 

 

**_He leaned forward. "Or maybe you only fight when there's a river to dive into, so your daddy can protect you."_ **

 

**_I wanted to punch this guy, but somehow, I knew he was waiting for that. Ares's power was causing my anger. He'd love it if I attacked. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction._ **

 

"Good job," Hestia says smiling softly. 

 

**_"We're not interested," I said. "We've already got a quest."_ **

 

**_Ares's fiery eyes made me see things I didn't want to see-blood and smoke and corpses on the battlefield. "I know all about your quest, punk. When that item was first stolen, Zeus sent his best out looking for it: Apollo, Athena, Artemis, and me, naturally. If I couldn't sniff out a weapon that powerful_ **

**_..." He licked his lips, as if the very thought of the master bolt made him hungry._ **

 

"I hate dreams messing with my mind," Ares mutters softly. 

 

**_"Well ... if I couldn't find it, you got no hope. Nevertheless, I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. Your dad and I go way_ **

**_back. After all, I'm the one who told him my suspicions about old Corpse Breath."_ **

 

**_"You told him Hades stole the bolt?"_ **

 

**_"Sure. Framing somebody to start a war. Oldest trick in the book. I recognized it immediately. In a way, you got me to thank for your little quest."_ **

 

"No they have Kronos to thank for that. Stupid person messing with people's minds," Aphrodite says scowling. 

 

"So Kronos really is rising?" Reyna asks. 

 

"I believe the books will answer that," Hestia says. 

 

**_"Thanks," I grumbled._ **

 

**_"Hey, I'm a generous guy. Just do my little job, and I'll help you on your way. I'll arrange a ride west for you and your friends."_ **

 

"See. He helps demigods by making it seem as a reward," Aphrodite says smiling. Zeus can't really argue with Ares because it's not against the rules to offer a reward for doing a quest. 

 

**_"We're doing fine on our own."_ **

 

**_"Yeah, right. No money. No wheels. No clue what you're up against. Help me out, and maybe I'll tell you something you need to know. Something about your mom."_ **

 

"I may be the good of war but even I understand how important family is to people." 

 

**_"My mom?"_ **

 

**_He grinned. "That got your attention. The water park is a mile west on Delancey. You can't miss it. Look for the Tunnel of Love ride."_ **

 

**_"What interrupted your date?" I asked. "Something scare you off?"_ **

 

"Nope. He just couldn't think of a better story," Aphrodite says chuckling. 

 

"Good thing he earned me in time so I could set up a trap," Hephaestus says shrugging. "Sorry you both got trapped in it though," He tells Annabeth and Percy. 

 

**_Ares bared his teeth, but I'd seen his threatening look before on Clarisse. There was something false about it, almost like he was nervous. "You're lucky you met me, punk, and not one of the other Olympians. They're not as forgiving of rudeness as I am. I'll meet you back here when you're done. Don't disappoint me."_ **

 

"In a way he's right. Other's would've been furious with you Percy. You really do have a talent for pissing off gods," Hestia says looking a bit amused. The Romans look shocked that someone would piss off the gods and goddesses. 

 

**_After that I must have fainted, or fallen into a trance, because when I opened my eyes again, Ares was gone. I might've thought the conversation had been a dream, but Annabeth and Grover's expressions told me otherwise._ **

 

**_"Not good," Grover said. "Ares sought you out, Percy. This is not good."_ **

 

"I'm slowly coming to believe that it was actually good," Percy mutters. 

 

**_I stared out the window. The motorcycle had disappeared. Did Ares really know something about my mom, or was he just playing with me? Now that he was gone, all the anger had drained out of me. I realized Ares must love to mess with people's emotions. That was his power cranking up the passions so badly, they clouded your ability to think._ **

 

"Bravo you figured it out. Here have a lollipop," Hermes says handing Percy a lollipop. Percy looks both confused and amused but takes the lollipop. 

 

**_"It's probably some kind of trick," I said._ **

**_"Forget Ares. Let's just go."_ **

 

**_"We can't," Annabeth said. "Look, I hate Ares as much as anybody, but you don't ignore the gods unless you want serious bad fortune. He wasn't kidding about turning you into a rodent."_ **

 

"You make a cute rodent," Aphrodite says chuckling. "I have proof," she says sure that Percy knows what she's talking about. Percy blushes slight and Annabeth chuckles while the other demigods mostly look confused. 

 

**_I looked down at my cheeseburger, which suddenly didn't seem so appetizing. "Why does he need us?"_ **

 

**_"Maybe it's a problem that requires brains," Annabeth said. "Ares has strength. That's all he has. Even strength has to bow to wisdom sometimes."_ **

 

"Just because he's the God of war doesn't mean he can't be smart. He outsmarted the ancient laws and figured out a way to help demigods," Aphrodite tells Annabeth looking deadly calm. Annabeth nods and apologizes. 

 

**_"But this water park ... he acted almost scared. What would make a war god run away like that?"_ **

 

**_Annabeth and Grover glanced nervously at each other._ **

 

**_Annabeth said, "I'm afraid we'll have to find out."_ **

 

**_The sun was sinking behind the mountains by the time we found the water park. Judging from the sign, it once had been called WATERLAND, but now some of the letters were smashed out, so it read WAT R A D. The main gate was padlocked and topped with barbed wire. Inside, huge dry waterslides and tubes and pipes curled everywhere, leading to empty pools. Old tickets and adver-tisements fluttered around the asphalt. With night coming on, the place looked sad and creepy._ **

 

"You really better not actually take me there," Aphrodite tells Ares. Although now she understands why he needed her scarf. 

 

**_"If Ares brings his girlfriend here for a date," I said, staring up at the barbed wire, "I'd hate to see what she looks like."_ **

 

**_"Percy," Annabeth warned. "Be more respectful."_ **

 

"Quite alright I would be thinking something along those lines too," Aphrodite says chuckling. 

 

**_"Why? I thought you hated Ares."_ **

 

**_"He's still a god. And his girlfriend is very temperamental."_ **

 

"I can be I'll admit to that." 

 

**_"You don't want to insult her looks," Grover added._ **

 

**_"Who is she? Echidna?"_ **

 

**_"No, Aphrodite," Grover said, a little dreamily. "Goddess of love."_ **

 

"All types of love not just coupely love. Family love is always so much stronger than that." 

 

**_"I thought she was married to somebody," I said. "Hephaestus."_ **

 

"Yes without her getting any choice in the matter. Quite ironic don't you think that the goddess of love didn't get to choose who she would be married to," Hephaestus says rolling his eyes. 

 

**_"What's your point?" he asked._ **

 

**_"Oh." I suddenly felt the need to change the subject. "So how do we get in?"_ **

 

**_"Maia!" Grover's shoes sprouted wings._ **

**_He flew over the fence, did an unintended somersault in midair, then stumbled to a landing on the opposite side. He dusted off his jeans, as if he'd planned the whole thing._ **

 

"You never know I probably did," Grover says smiling.

 

**** "Yeah of course," Percy says smiling also. 

 

**_"You guys coming?"_ **

 

**_Annabeth and I had to climb the old-fashioned way, holding down the barbed wire for each other as we crawled over the top. The shadows grew long as we walked through the park, checking out the attractions. There was Ankle Biter Island, Head Over Wedgie, and Dude, Where's My Swimsuit?_ **

 

"Those are some really interesting names," Leo says chuckling. 

 

**_No monsters came to get us. Nothing made the slightest noise. We found a souvenir shop that had been left open. Merchandise still lined the shelves: snow globes, pencils, postcards, and racks of_ **

 

**_"Clothes," Annabeth said. "Fresh clothes."_ **

 

**_"Yeah," I said. "But you can't just-"_ **

 

**_"Watch me."_ **

 

"Well I don't blame you," Aphrodite says shrugging. "Athena can you add that we need our children to have access to clothes and showers to your notes?" She asks Athena.

 

"Already on it," Athena says smiling. 

 

**_She snatched an entire row of stuff of the racks and disappeared into the changing room. A few minutes later she came out in Waterland flower-print shorts, a big red Waterland T-shirt, and commemorative_ **

**_Waterland surf shoes. A Waterland backpack was slung over her shoulder, obviously stuffed with more goodies._ **

 

**_"What the heck." Grover shrugged._ **

 

**_Soon, all three of us were decked out like walking advertisements for the defunct theme park. We continued searching for the Tunnel of Love. I got the feeling that the whole park was holding its breath._ **

 

**_"So Ares and Aphrodite," I said, to keep my mind off the growing dark, "they have a thing going?"_ **

 

**_"That's old gossip, Percy," Annabeth told me. "Three-thousand-year-old gossip."_ **

 

**_"What about Aphrodite's husband?"_ **

 

"Like I said I don't care. Also now that it's out in the open I can finally stop coming up with traps," Hephaestus says smiling. 

 

**_"Well, you know," she said. "Hephaestus. The black-smith. He was crippled when he was a baby, thrown off Mount Olympus by Zeus. So he isn't exactly handsome. Clever with his hands, and all, but Aphrodite_ **

**_isn't into brains and talent, you know?"_ **

 

"I'll let that one pass," Aphrodite says rolling her eyes. 

 

**_"She likes bikers."_ **

 

**_"Whatever."_ **

 

**_"Hephaestus knows?"_ **

 

**_"Oh sure," Annabeth said. "He caught them together once. I mean, literally caught them, in a golden net, and invited all the gods to come and laugh at them. Hephaestus is always trying to embarrass them. That's why they meet in out-of-the-way places, like ..."_ **

**_She stopped, looking straight ahead. "Like that."_ **

 

"Our real dates are actually quite lovely," Aphrodite says smiling. 

 

**_In front of us was an empty pool that would've been awesome for skateboarding. It was at least fifty yards across and shaped like a bowl. Around the rim, a dozen bronze statues of Cupid stood guard with wings spread and bows ready to fire._ **

 

**_On the opposite side from us, a tunnel opened up, probably where the water flowed into when the pool was full. The sign above it read, THRILL RIDE O' LOVE: THIS IS NOT YOUR PARENTS' TUNNEL OF LOVE!_ **

 

**_Grover crept toward the edge. "Guys, look."_ **

 

**_Marooned at the bottom of the pool was a pink-and-white two-seater boat with a canopy over the top and little hearts painted all over it. In the left seat, glinting in the fading light, was Ares's shield, a polished circle of bronze._ **

 

**_"This is too easy," I said. "So we just walk down there and get it?"_ **

 

**_Annabeth ran her fingers along the base of the nearest Cupid statue. "There's a Greek letter carved here," she said._ **

**_"Eta. I wonder ..."_ **

****

"Sorry for what's about to happen," Hephaestus says. 

****

**_"Grover," I said, "you smell any monsters?"_ **

**_He sniffed the wind. "Nothing."_ **

****

**_"Nothing-like,in-the-Arch-and-you-didn't-smell-Echidna nothing, or really nothing?"_ **

****

**_Grover looked hurt. "I told you, that was underground."_ **

****

"Underground always smells of monsters," Grover says shuddering. 

****

**_"Okay, I'm sorry." I took a deep breath. "I'm going down there."_ **

****

**_"I'll go with you." Grover didn't sound too enthusiastic, but I got the feeling he was trying to make up for what had happened in St. Louis._ **

****

**_"No," I told him. "I want you to stay up top with the flying shoes. You're the Red Baron, a flying ace, remember? I'll be counting on you for backup, in case something goes wrong."_ **

****

"I'm starting to learn that Percy does not have good luck," Jason says raising an eyebrow.

****

"You have no idea," he says rolling his eyes. 

****

**_Grover puffed up his chest a little. "Sure. But what could go wrong?"_ **

****

**_"I don't know. Just a feeling. Annabeth, come with me-"_ **

****

**_"Are you kidding?" She looked at me as if I'd just dropped from the moon. Her cheeks were bright red._ **

****

**_"What's the problem now?" I demanded._ **

****

**_"Me, go with you to the ... the 'Thrill Ride of Love'? How embarrassing is that? What if somebody saw me?"_ **

****

**_"Who's going to see you?" But my face was burning now, too. Leave it to a girl to make everything complicated._ **

****

"I mean he's not wrong," Reyna and Thalia say together. "We do tend to complicate things at times," Reyna adds. 

****

**_"Fine," I told her. "I'll do it myself."_ **

****

**_But when I started down the side of the pool, she followed me, muttering about how boys always messed things up._ **

****

"Not really," Piper says shrugging. 

****

**_We reached the boat. The shield was propped on one seat, and next to it was a lady's silk scarf. I tried to imagine Ares and Aphrodite here, a couple of gods meeting in a junked-out amusement-park ride. Why?_ **

****

**_Then I noticed something I hadn't seen from up top: mirrors all the way around the rim of the pool, facing this spot. We could see ourselves no matter which direction we looked. That must be it. While Ares and Aphrodite were smooching with each other they could look at their favorite people:_ **

**_themselves._ **

****

"I'm all for vanity but that's a bit too far," Aphrodite says rolling her eyes. 

****

**_I picked up the scarf. It shimmered pink, and the perfume was indescribable-rose, or mountain laurel. Something good. I smiled, a little dreamy, and was about to rub the scarf against my cheek when Annabeth ripped it out of my hand and stuffed it in her pocket._ **

****

**_"Oh, no you don't. Stay away from that_ **

**_love magic."_ **

****

"What ever did happen to that scarf?" Percy asks Annabeth.

****

"I don't remember," she replies shrugged. 

****

"That was a nice scarf good thing I found it again later," Aphrodite says smiling. 

****

**_"What?"_ **

****

**_"Just get the shield, Seaweed Brain, and let's get out of here."_ **

****

**_The moment I touched the shield, I knew we were in trouble._ **

****

"Good instincts but bad timing," Nico says. 

****

**_My hand broke through something that had been connecting it to the dashboard. A cobweb, I thought, but then I looked at a strand of it on my palm and saw it was some kind of metal filament, so fine it was almost invisible. A trip wire._ **

****

**_"Wait," Annabeth said._ **

****

**_"Too late."_ **

****

**_"There's another Greek letter on the side of the boat, another Eta. This is a trap."_ **

****

"How'd you get out of that one?" Leo asks.

****

"Wait nevermind book will answer it and all." 

****

**_Noise erupted all around us, of a million gears grinding, as if the whole pool were turning into one giant machine._ **

**_Grover yelled, "Guys!"_ **

****

**_Up on the rim, the Cupid statues were drawing their bows into firing position. Before I could suggest taking cover, they shot, but not at us. They fired at each other, across the rim of the pool. Silky cables_ **

**_trailed from the arrows, arcing over the pool and anchoring where they landed to form a huge golden asterisk. Then smaller metallic threads started weaving together magically between the main strands, making a net._ **

****

"Sorry about that," Hephaestus tells Annabeth and Percy looking apologetic. 

****

**_"We have to get out," I said._ **

****

**_"Duh!" Annabeth said._ **

****

**_I grabbed the shield and we ran, but going up the slope of the pool was not as easy as going down._ **

****

**_"Come on!" Grover shouted._ **

****

**_He was trying to hold open a section of the net for us, but wherever he touched it, the golden threads started to wrap around his hands.The Cupids' heads popped open. Out came video cam-eras. Spotlights rose up all around the pool, blinding us with illumination, and a loudspeaker voice boomed: "Live to Olympus in one minute ... Fifty-nine seconds, fifty-eight ..."_ **

****

"It was something nice to see if worrying for Poseidon and Athena," Hermes says chuckling. 

****

**_"Hephaestus!" Annabeth screamed. "I'm so stupid.' Eta is H.' He made this trap to catch his wife with Ares. Now we're going to be broadcast live to Olympus and look like absolute fools!"_ **

****

**_We'd almost made it to the rim when the row of mir-rors opened like hatches and thousands of tiny metallic ... things poured out. Annabeth screamed. It was an army of wind-up creepy-crawlies: bronze-gear bodies, spindly legs, little pincer mouths, all_ **

**_scuttling toward us in a wave of clacking, whirring metal._ **

****

"Spiders are the worst. You don't have to be a child of Athena to hate them," Piper says shuddering. 

****

**_"Spiders!" Annabeth said. "Sp-sp-aaaah!"_ **

****

**_I'd never seen her like this before. She fell backward in terror and almost got overwhelmed by the spider robots before I pulled her up and dragged her back toward the boat. The things were coming out from all around the rim now, millions of them, flooding toward the center of the pool, completely surrounding us. I told myself they probably weren't programmed to kill, just corral us and bite us and make us look stupid. Then again, this was a trap meant for gods. And we weren't gods._ **

****

"You were fine," Hephaestus says shrugging. 

****

**_Annabeth and I climbed into the boat. I started kicking away the spiders as they swarmed aboard. I yelled at Annabeth to help me, but she was too paralyzed to do much more than scream._ **

****

**_"Thirty, twenty-nine," called the loudspeaker._ **

****

**_The spiders started spitting out strands of metal thread, trying to tie us down. The strands were easy enough to break at first, but there were so many of them, and the spi-ders just kept coming. I kicked one_ **

**_away from Annabeth's leg and its pincers took a chunk out of my new surf shoe._ **

**_Grover hovered above the pool in his flying sneakers, trying to pull the net loose, but it wouldn't budge. Think, I told myself. Think._ **

**_The Tunnel of Love entrance was under the net. We could use it as an exit, except that it was blocked by a million robot spiders._ **

****

**_"Fifteen, fourteen," the loudspeaker called._ **

****

**_Water, I thought. Where does the ride's water come from?_ **

****

**_Then I saw them: huge water pipes behind the mirrors, where the spiders had come from. And up above the net, next to one of the Cupids, a glass-windowed booth that must be the controller's station._ **

****

"Good idea," Athena tells Percy rather reluctantly. 

****

**_"Grover!" I yelled. "Get into that booth! Find the 'on' switch!"_ **

****

**_"But-"_ **

****

**_"Do it!" It was a crazy hope, but it was our only chance._ **

****

**_The spiders were all over the prow of the boat now. Annabeth was screaming her head off. I had to get us out of there._ **

**_Grover was in the controller's booth now, slamming away at the buttons._ **

****

**_"Five, four-"_ **

****

**_Grover looked up at me hopelessly, raising his hands. He was letting me know that he'd pushed every button, but still nothing was happening. I closed my eyes and thought about waves, rushing water, the Mississippi River. I felt a familiar tug in my gut. I tried to imagine that I was dragging the ocean all the way to Denver._ **

****

**_"Two, one, zero!"_ **

****

**_Water exploded out of the pipes._ **

****

"Nice job Percy," Leo says cheerily. 

****

**_It roared into the pool, sweeping away the spiders. I pulled Annabeth into the seat next to me and fastened her seat belt just as the tidal wave slammed into our boat, over the top, whisking the spiders away and dousing us completely, but not capsizing us. The boat turned, lifted in the flood, and spun in circles around the whirlpool._ **

****

**_The water was full of short-circuiting spiders, some of them smashing against the pool's concrete wall with such force they burst. Spotlights glared down at us. The Cupid-cams were rolling, live to Olympus._ **

**_But I could only concentrate on controlling the boat. I willed it to ride the current, to keep away from the wall._ **

****

**_Maybe it was my imagination, but the boat seemed to respond. At least, it didn't break into a million pieces._ **

****

"That's my son," Poseidon says smiling. 

****

**_We spun around one last time, the water level now almost high enough to shred us against the metal net. Then the boat's nose turned toward the tunnel and we rocketed through into the darkness._ **

****

**_Annabeth and I held tight, both of us screaming as the boat shot curls and hugged corners and took forty-five-degree plunges past pictures of Romeo and Juliet and a bunch of other Valentine's Day stuff._ **

****

**_Then we were out of the tunnel, the night air whistling through our hair as the boat barreled straight toward the exit.If the ride had been in working order, we would've sailed off a ramp between the golden Gates of Love and splashed down safely in the exit pool. But there was a prob-lem. The Gates of Love were chained._ **

****

**_Two boats that had been washed out of the tunnel before us were now piled against the barricade-one submerged, the other cracked in half. "Unfasten your seat belt," I yelled to Annabeth._ **

****

"You just have good ideas in the nick of time don't you?" Reyna asks Percy raising an eyebrow. Percy just shrugs not knowing how to reply to that. 

****

**_"Are you crazy?"_ **

****

**_"Unless you want to get smashed to death." I strapped Ares's shield to my arm. "We're going to have to jump for it."_ **

****

**_My idea was simple and insane. As the boat struck, we would use its force like a_ **

**_springboard to jump the gate. I'd heard of people surviving car crashes that way, getting thrown thirty or forty feet away from an accident. With luck, we would land in the pool._ **

****

"I'm happy it worked and you're still alive," Poseidon mutters. 

****

**_Annabeth seemed to understand. She gripped my hand as the gates got closer._ **

****

**_"On my mark," I said._ **

****

**_"No! On my mark!"_ **

****

**_"What?"_ **

****

**_"Simple physics!" she yelled. "Force times the trajectory angle-"_ **

****

"Not the time," Thalia says looking worried even though she knows they're alright. 

****

**_"Fine.'" I shouted. "On your mark!"_ **

****

**_She hesitated ... hesitated ... then yelled, "Now!"_ **

****

**_Crack! Annabeth was right. If we'd jumped when I thought we should've, we would've crashed into the gates. She got us maximum lift._ **

****

"That was probably a bit too much lift," Hestia says smiling softly. 

****

**_Unfortunately, that was a little more than we needed. Our boat smashed into the pileup and we were thrown into the air, straight over the gates, over the pool, and down toward solid asphalt. Something grabbed me from behind._ **

****

**_Annabeth yelled, "Ouch!"_ **

****

**_Grover!_ **

****

"The red Baron," Leo tells Grover cheerily. 

****

**_In midair, he had grabbed me by the shirt, and Annabeth by the arm, and was trying to pull us out of a crash landing, but Annabeth and I had all the momentum._ **

****

"Well it was better than nothing," Athena says sighing. 

****

**_"You're too heavy!" Grover said. "We're going down!"_ **

****

**_We spiraled toward the ground, Grover doing his best to slow the fall. We smashed into a photo-board, Grover's head going straight into the hole where tourists would put their faces, pretending to be Noo-Noo the Friendly Whale. Annabeth and I tumbled to the ground, banged up but alive. Ares's shield was still on my arm._ **

****

**_Once we caught our breath, Annabeth and I got Grover out of the photo-board and thanked him for saving our lives. I looked back at the Thrill Ride of Love. The water was subsiding. Our boat had been_ **

**_smashed to pieces against the gates._ **

**_A hundred yards away, at the entrance pool, the Cupids were still filming. The statues had swiveled so that their cameras were trained straight on us, the spotlights in our faces._ **

****

"That was an interesting day in Olympus," Hermes says chuckling. 

****

**_"Show's over!" I yelled. "Thank you! Good night!"_ **

****

**_The Cupids turned back to their original positions. The lights shut off. The park went quiet and dark again, except for the gentle trickle of water into the Thrill Ride of Love's exit pool. I wondered if Olympus had gone to a commercial break, or if our ratings had been any good._ **

****

"Oh they were fantastic," Apollo says looking amused. 

****

**_I hated being teased. I hated being tricked. And I had plenty of experience handling bullies who liked to do that stuff to me. I hefted the shield on my arm and turned to my friends._ **

****

**_"We need to have a little talk with Ares."_ **

****

"I have a feeling that won't go well," Reyna says.

****

"Well we'll have to find out," Demter says flipping to the next chapter. "Who's reading next?" 


End file.
